The Marriage Law
by fanofdenial
Summary: The ministry enacts a marriage law to repopulate after the war. Hermione Granger gets paired with Draco Malfoy. Will this ever be a love, not hate-filled relationship? Dramione!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hello and welcome to my new story! Here's my shot at the 'marriage law' idea as you can tell from my ingenious title. :p I like it to be somewhat realistic so don't expect them to fall in love right away, though I promise they will eventually! :) It takes place after the final battle, everything is in canon to that point. Reviews/follows/favs are much appreciated so that I know that someone is interested, and constructive criticism is welcome. Without further ado, enjoy! (I promise this will be the only long author's note.)**

**Creds and thanks to JK Rowling **

Hermione looked at Ron and Harry with their gloomy faces and said, "Oh snap out of it you two! We're going home! And just think of all the time you get to spend with Ginny, Harry," she added slyly, avoiding Ron's gaze as she said so.

While Ron and Hermione were indeed a couple, things didn't feel quite right to Hermione. She had liked Ron for as long as she could remember, but now that she had him, she had become conscious of the sibling-like relationship they'd had for so long, something that was hard to break out of.

As thy settled in to their compartment onboard the Hogwarts express, Ron and Harry both sighed, causing Hermione to frown. After the war, the two boys had planned to go directly into auror training. Their plans were dashed however by a Ministry announcement proclaiming that all students had to return to Hogwarts to complete their disrupted education. Hermione hadn't minded. She felt that there was plenty of time for a career and family later and she planned on enjoying an uneventful year at Hogwarts, something she desperately needed after the events of the year before. She also knew that Harry and Ron needed the same thing even if they hadn't realized it themselves. She did wonder about it being obligatory, but chocked that up to the lack of education received by students the year before.

One upside of it being obligatory, Hermione thought, was that all of their friends had returned with them. It was with great joy that she greeted Neville, Luna, Dean and Seamus among others upon their arrival at the school. There were notable faces that were missing, she thought as she watched Parvati who looked lost without Lavender, but as she hugged the girl, she knew that this way, at least they'd get through it together.

Another group forced back due to the new rule were the Slytherins, and though they seemed more reserved, not much seemed to have changed, Hermione observed as she caught Ron exchanging a nasty look with Gregory Goyle. Hermione nudged Harry and snickered as she watched Draco Malfoy fend off the repulsive Pansy Parkinson. The pug-faced brat seemed to be back in full force, though Hermione noted with interest that Malfoy no longer seemed to want her lavish attention. Hermione couldn't help wondering if and how the events of last year had changed him. He had after all saved their life at his manor; not a very Slytherin-like thing to do. As she watched him and Blaise Zabini leer at some terrified first years, she thought to herself that she certainly was not going to go over and ask him about it.

"You coming babe?" Ron asked her sweetly.

"I sure am," she smiled, clasping his rather sweaty hand. She tried not to think about how it felt a little bit odd to be holding his hand. She was sure it would just take getting used to.

As they entered the Great Hall, Hermione sighed contentedly. She was finally home. She vowed not to let anything, not even Slytherins or worries about Ron, ruin this moment.

Dinner was lovely. Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny were joined by Neville, and the five friends laughed their way through the delectable meal. Oher friends and acquaintances kept coming over to greet them or to thank the Golden Trio for their service the year before. Just before the end of the meal, Professor McGonagall stood up to make the start of term announcements. Most of them were standard, no one was to enter the forest, Weasley Wizzard Wheezes were banned, etc. One announcement however, did stand out.

"Would all seventh years, new and old, please stay behind after the feast for a brief meeting."

This last announcement sent the hall into a buzz—what was going to happen to the seventh years? Did it have something to do with this being the first year after the war?

"Does anyone else find this, in combination with coming back being obligatory, slightly fishy?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"On the bright side, I'm in your year now!" Ginny commented happily, giving Harry a peck on the cheek.

Hermione smiled at her best girlfriend and added, "There's nothing we can do to find out sooner so we might as well wait and see."

"I'm sure everything will be alright," Neville added. "I mean, what could be worse than what happened last year?"

xxxxx

At long last, their meeting was underway. Professor McGonagall addressed them from the front of the hall.

"The ministry has put a new law into effect, one which, much as I wish, I have absolutely no control over."

The tension in the room heightened palpably.

"As you've probably figured out, this has something to do with the mandatory attendance this year.

At this, Harry mouthed "I told you so" to Ron, who was looking greener by the minute. Hermione shushed them, then returned her gaze to their regretful looking headmistress.

"The war spilled much magical blood and cost many lives. The wizarding population took quite a hit. For this reason, the ministry has enacted a new law, making marriage mandatory for those between the ages of 17 and 35. All of you must marry this year, and be pregnant by graduation. This will affect all of you, and is why attendance is mandatory this year. The program created to employ and facilitate this process will be carried out here, at Hogwarts for all of you."

Shocked silence followed her statement. Hermione was in shock. Marriage this year? She certainly wanted to get married and have a family someday, but that was very far down the line. She already felt like she'd been robbed of her childhood, now she was being forced to get married too?

McGonagall spoke again. "I want to make it clear that I am fully against this law. It is my belief that you have already been through enough as it is."

"Preach woman," Seamus muttered.

"However, my hands are tied. The law is the law. Stay after lunch tomorrow for your sorting."

"Sorting?" A Hufflepuff called out.

"Yes, into your pairings." McGonagall said sadly.

This time, there was an audible gasp after her statement. They were going to be forced not only into marriage, but into an arranged marriage? "We don't get to choose!?" "They simply can't do this!" "This is worse than the war!"

Hermione could only sit there in silence, tears streaming down her face. What if she hated who she was sorted with? She'd have to marry him, have his children. She looked at the Slytherin table. What if she was put with one of them? Someone would be.


	2. Chapter 2

**A****/****N ****Wow****. ****I ****just ****wanted ****to ****say ****thank ****you ****for ****the ****positive ****response ****this ****story ****has ****been ****getting****. ****As ****you ****can ****probably ****tell,**** I ****prefer ****shorter ****but ****more ****frequent updates, and if that's alright with all of you I'll keep it that way. With that, I'll let you get on with the story. Please do let me know if you have comments/ideas/constructive criticism!**

**~Thanks to JK Rowling **

Hermione could barely sleep a wink that night. She stayed awake tossing and turning, riddled with worries about the next day. Part of her was worried that she wouldn't get put with Ron. The other part was terrified that she would. The truth was that Hermione was coming to realize that she only loved Ron like a brother. She cared for him deeply, but not as a lover. She just wasn't attracted to him that way anymore. She needed someone more sophisticated, adventurous, and _fresh_.She'd known Ron for years, knew him like the back of her hand. There wasn't much left to discover with him. She just wondered if the Sorting Hat would realize that, or if her match existed at Hogwarts. On the other hand, maybe Ron was the safe bet. At least with him she knew she could depend on having a caring husband who really knew and respected her. Her mind kept going in circles.

The following morning, Hermione could barely touch her toast. Her stomach was in knots. Ginny wasn't doing much better.

"What if I don't get matched with you?" she asked Harry desperately, wringing her hands. "You're the one—what if, after everything, you get taken away from me?"

"I'm sure we will get put together. We're meant to be—the Sorting Hat will know." Harry comforted his distraught girlfriend.

"Don't worry Mione, the hat will know to put us together too," Ron told Hermione, thinking he was comforting her. All she could do was give him a weak smile, which he interpreted as nerves, as guilt settled in the pit of her stomach.

Over at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy nervously pushed his food around his plate, too unsettled to eat any of it. What if he didn't get paired with a Slytherin? No girl from any other house would accept him after his actions in previous years. Well, maybe a Hufflepuff could eventually, but he shuddered at the thought of having to marry one of them. Then there was the fact that he was expected to become a father. He had vowed never to become one after being raised by his own father. What if his children became like him? No one should become Draco Malfoy.

"My God, what if I get paired with a mudblood?" Theodore Nott complained. Could you imagine having to touch one of them?"

"Shut it Nott!" Draco snarled. "You know that stuff doesn't matter anymore!"

"Well well well, looks like Drakey's become a blood traitor. I wonder what daddy would think." Theo jeered.

"I don't love them, it's just that last year helped me get my priorities straight," Draco replied evenly.

Their fight was interrupted by McGonagall calling for their attention. Filch was standing next to her with a stool and the infamous Sorting Hat. Draco felt like vomiting.

As Filch set the hat on the stool and McGonagall produced an official looking parchment, you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Many of the students looked nauseous. As Hermione scanned the faces of her peers, she made eye contact with Malfoy and was surprised to see the nervousness and fear she felt reflected in his stormy grey eyes.

"I will call the girls one by one by age, youngest to oldest. The hat will pair them with their…husband to be. Your pairing is final." McGonagall said, looking a little weak herself. "You should at least know, that the hat will pair you with the person it most feels you truly have the best chance of building a good life with." She added kindly. With no further ado, the dreaded ceremony began.

"Lovegood, Luna."

Luna walked, no waltzed, up to the stool where she sat looking calm as a cucumber. After several moments, the hat called out,

"Theodore Nott!" and Luna got up and waltzed over to stand in front of an infuriated Theo.

"Hello," Luna said dreamily. "I'm a pureblood so you don't need to worry about that, although you really should work on getting over that, it really isn't very nice." Theo opened and closed his mouth but couldn't say anything. Luna looked at Blaise and Draco and said, "Must be the nargles." Looking at Theo again, she said, "I'm going to go wait with the girls while they get sorted, I'll see you after." And with that, she skipped off, leaving behind three dumbfounded Slytherins. Theo finally seemed to regain his ability to speak.

"Looney Lovegood?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Ah, the nargles finally let you talk?" Blaise sniggered.

"Weasley, Ginevra!"

"Sh, Potter's girlfriend is up!" Draco said.

Looking extremely worried, Ginny shakily took her place on the stool. The hat had barely touched her bright red hair before—

"Harry Potter!"

Ginny squealed and practically ripped the hat off before running into Harry's open arms and kissing him passionately.

"Of course Potter got his girl," Draco muttered. "Next it'll be Weasel and Granger."

Astoria Greengrass got called up next. Many of the boys interests' peaked as the beautiful blonde sat on the stool. Draco looked on with mixed feelings. In another life he would have been betrothed to her. He couldn't decide if it was better this way.

"Ronald Wesley!"

There was an audible gasp. Ron turned to Hermione.

"Th-there must have been a mistake," he gasped.

Hermione touched his arm.

"It's okay Ron," she said quietly. "We'll still have each other, just in a different way."

Ron looked hurt, as though he had expected her to put up a fight. But as Hermione watched him shakily walk over to Astoria Greengrass and awkwardly shake her hand, she knew: Ron wasn't the one. Then the realization hit her, that if she wasn't going to end up with Ron, she would be marrying some other guy in the room. As she looked around, she felt increasingly nervous as she realized that none of them appealed to her any more than Ron had.

"Sorry mate," Blaise said to Draco sympathetically as the Weasel went over and shook her hand.

"It's for the better," Draco said, more to convince himself. "That would have been a boring life."

"Yes, but it would have been one you could depend on." Theo pointed out.

"Aren't you a fountain of joy today, Nott!" Draco snarled at unhelpful Theo.

The sorting progressed quickly. Neville got paired with Hannah Abott, Dean Thomas with Padma Patil. Blaise did fairly well, getting paired with Parvati Patil. A distraught Pansy Parkinson was paired with an equally distraught Seamus Finnigan. Draco breathed a sigh of relief when Pansy was paired. He wished poor Seamus all the best. Everyone was relieved when Gregory Goyle got placed with Millicent Bullstrode, effectively taking care of one another for everyone else's sake. Daphne Greengrass got paired with Ernie MacMillan—that was a bit of a surprise. Then it was Hermione Granger's turn. Draco watched with interest. He wondered who would get stuck with the bookworm. It never even occurred to him that it could be himself.

As Hermione walked up to the stool, she felt as though she was walking to her doom. There were only a handful of boys left to get paired, and none of them were her friends. "Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about getting put with Malfoy," Hermione thought as she scanned the receding group of momentary bachelors. "We're certainly not 'meant to be.'" Then the hat was placed on her head and she focused on its little voice.

"Well well well, aren't we in a tizzy about this whole thing? For someone who just got forced to break up with her boyfriend, you seem to be handling it fairly well. But who to put you with? Life commitment's a big deal. Ahhh I see that you seek someone sophisticated, adventurous, and someone fresh, who you'll have the experience of getting to know. With that in mind, I know just who to put you with. And believe me, it's a fresh idea, not something you'd _ever_ expect."

Before Hermione had time to fully process its words, the hat was speaking again, and this time to the room at large.

"Draco Malfoy!"

Hermione screamed. Fortunately not many people heard her over the din that was created at the hat's shocking words. The equally stunned blonde however, did hear, and her cry hurt him more than he was willing to admit.

"Oh well mate, blood doesn't really matter anymore right?" Theo sneered.

"Geez Theo, is it really the time?" Blaise snapped at him as he glanced at Draco worriedly. "Drake just got stuck with Granger forever."

The truth was, the issue of Granger's blood wasn't what was making Draco feel like he wanted to throw up at his engagement proclamation. It was that now, he'd have to live with Hermione Granger, Hogwarts' resident bookworm and know-it-all, for the rest of his life. He'd have to see her accusatory glance every day. There'd be nowhere for him to hide with his guilt, because she'd know. He realized that with her, he'd be stuck doing what he knew how to do best—hiding all of his pain and insecurities behind a sneering mask of taunts and jeers. He'd have to go at her with full force, because otherwise he'd have to let her in, and Draco simply couldn't do that.

Hermione was bordering on hyperventilating. Had the hat really just condemned her to marry Draco Malfoy, bane of her existence? Even if the war had changed him, no one could change that much in a year. This must be some sick joke. The hat was supposed to be smart for heaven's sake!

"Geez Granger, I never thought you to be the melodramatic type," that cold, cold voice drawled. "Nosy, bossy, infuriating, yes but—"

"Oh can it Malfoy!" Hermione snapped. "I'm in no mood for your twisted games. My life has effectively just been ruined and—"

"You think I'm jumping for joy?" Don't forget I have to marry you!"

"I think I've gotten the shorter end of this stick," Hermione snarled in a very un-Hermione way.

"That is enough everyone." McGonagall cut in to the din. "Now that you have all been paired, you may retire to your respective common rooms. We will meet again this time tomorrow to go over details of your new living quarters and marriage course. I expect that you would all like some time to yourselves before then, so, until tomorrow."

"One last night of freedom," Parvati murmured to Hermione as they watched their respective Slytherin husbands-to-be stalk away.

**I hope that you like the couples, if not please bear with me, I spent a long time matching them and picked them all for a reason. If you are really unhappy, pm me—I'll be happy to explain my logic behind them. Until next time! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Argh! I stayed up late finishing this chapter and then the site was down! Well, they say that good things come to those who wait, hope you find that to be the case here!**

**This ****will ****be ****the ****last 'setup' chapter before the real fun starts!**

**As always, much thanks to the amazing JK Rowling.**

"It's okay Mione," Ginny soothed. "Everything will work out. The Sorting Hat must have known what it was doing when it paired you right?"

"Easy for you to say!" Hermione snapped at her friend. "You got matched with your true love I'm the one who got stuck with Draco freaking Malfoy! So don't sit there with your happy future ahead of you and preach to me!"

Hermione turned away, feeling both angry and ashamed. What a mess this all was. It was then that Ron interjected, and as usual, picked the wrong thing to say.

"Bet you wish you'd been paired with me now eh Mione?" he said sullenly. "Even I can't be worse than Malfoy!"

"Ron—"Ginny stood up angrily, but Hermione beat her to it.

"Leave it to you, Ronald, to lash out at someone for something that was entirely out of their control!" she shouted, eyes blazing. "What did you expect me to do? The pairings were final!"

"I expected you to put up a fight!" Ron roared. "To be upset! I thought—I thought that you loved me!"

"Ron, I…"

"Just forget it. I wish you and _Draco_ all the best."

Hermione watched him stomp off before bursting in to tears. It felt as though in one day, she'd lost everything. Quietly, Ginny gathered her friend up into her arms and let her cry herself out.

xxxxx

Draco walked briskly to the Great Hall. He had skipped lunch and waited until the last minute to make his way to the meeting as he was avoiding all of his friends. He didn't want to face them right now. He was too embarrassed. He, the Slytherin Prince, had been paired with the muggleborn heroine who had brought down the Dark Lord. Even though privately Draco was relieved to have Voldemort gone, he knew that many of his classmates certainly didn't see it that way and hated Hermione.

Ever since his impending marriage proclamation, Draco had felt as though he was suffocating. He needed his space. In a few short minutes, everything would change, and Draco had no idea what to expect, something that he couldn't stand. Not to mention that in less than a year he had to marry and impregnate his arch enemy. There was that minor detail too.

xxxxx

Hermione sat with Parvati who had saved her a seat for lunch. There was a new bond between the two girls; it was as though there was an unspoken agreement between them that they would get through this process with their respective Slytherin…fiancées, Hermione forced herself to think the word….together. Hermione was relieved that Blaise's fiancée was someone with whom she already had the foundation for a friendship with. She also was coming to realize that Parvati was actually a pretty nice person, and that it had always been Lavender who Hermione had had issues with. Hermione remembered sixth year, when Lavender had dated Ron, and Hermione had neither spoken to her nor Ron. Ron, she thought, who was once again not on speaking terms with her and who, even though he was only sitting at the other end of the Gryffindor table, seemed to be miles away.

It was at that moment that Hermione spotted Malfoy rushing into the hall. She observed her husband to be thoughtfully. He held himself differently this year. He no longer seemed as self-assured, nor did he strut the way he once did, as though he owned the place. He was rather handsome, Hermione grudgingly admitted. The lack of sneer did wonders for his face. Suddenly, he looked up at the Gryffindor table and scanned it as though he was looking for someone. When his eyes landed on her, he held her gaze. Hermione stared back impassively, even though on the inside she was anything but calm. Finally, Malfoy raised an eyebrow, smirked, and swaggered off to the Slytherin table. The fact that he was showing off for her by swaggering did not go unnoticed by the clever Gryffindor. Clearly he was trying to cover up his insecurities about the situation under a layer of bravado. Well, he wasn't fooling her.

"Ouu maybe the Sorting Hat did know what it was doing!" Parvati wiggled her eyebrows at Hermione and giggled as she observed the exchange.

Hermione rolled her eyes before bursting into laughter at the sheer preposterousness of what Parvati was implying. The two women giggled until Professor McGonagall rose and called for attention. Their laughter ceased abruptly and an air of solemnity immediately came over them.

"Would all the younger students please depart from the Great Hall, I have some things to discuss with the seventh years."

As the younger students filed out, Hermione observed her peers. There were a few couples such as Neville and Hannah who were sitting together, attempting to make the best of the situation. Hermione knew that they would work things out, they were both just so nice. She was relieved to see however, that there were several couples who were avoiding each other at all costs. At least she wasn't alone. She shot a furtive glance at Malfoy, who was currently laughing as Blaise shot pellets at Seamus out of his wand. Some situations simply didn't have a silver lining she thought sullenly.

"Now then." McGonagall began in her no nonsense way. "The ministry insists that you all partake in a specialized course, much like couples counselling. The course will also aid you in your wedding planning, as well as dedicating some time to parenting skills. You will all take this class for the duration of the year. As far as living quarters, the wing where the Beauxbatons students stayed during the Triwizard tournament has been expanded to suit our purposes. Each couple will have a room to share in order to encourage familiarity. Five couples will live in a pod with a common area, much like our respective houses' common rooms. I want to make it clear that there are two single beds in each couple's room for a reason. There will be no namby-pamby business until you are wed." She glared at them all sternly.

"Aw come on Professor, don't be a party pooper!" Blaise called out.

Draco snickered. Parvati looked mortified.

"Thank you for your contribution Mr. Zabini," McGonagall said crisply.

"Clearly the hat didn't sort based on compatibility, otherwise those two would be betrothed to sex addicts!" Hermione whispered to Parvati.

Parvati wiggled her eyebrows again. "Aren't they though?" she giggled. After a moment, Hermione joined in.

"Now, if you will all kindly follow me, I shall show you to your rooms." McGonagall called out.

As they made their way to the pods, Hermione's nerves returned in full force. It was really beginning now.

xxxxx

It was official: Draco would be living with a muggleborn. And not just any muggleborn, but Hermione Granger. What would his father say if he knew?

Once the group arrived at the pods, McGonagall began dividing them up into their groups. Draco and Hermione were assigned to a pod with Harry and Ginny, Blaise and Parvati, Ron and Astoria, and Luna and Theo.

"Dear God, I'm stuck with the entire Golden Trio!" Draco sighed internally. Thank heavens for Blaise.

Once the five couples entered their pod, they were greeted by the sight of a comfortable looking common room decked out in Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw colours. The room was pentagonal, with a door leading to what Draco assumed to be the bedrooms t each point. Hermione walked up to the door with the sign saying, "The Malfoys" on it and sucked in a breath. Draco heard her whisper, "This is really happening."

"Yes Granger, it is. I'm really stuck marrying you."

"Malfoy, you can't possibly feel worse than I do." She snapped. Opening the door, she walked into their…bedroom, Malfoy shuddered….and slammed the door. Fortunately, the designers seemed to have had the foresight to think that this might happen and had not installed locks or passwords on the bedroom doors. Taking a deep breath, Malfoy opened the door and entered their…bedroom…as well.

Hermione was pacing back and forth, the air around her practically crackling with the force of her emotions.

"Don't say a word Malfoy," she warned.

Draco opened his mouth to retort, but snapped it shut, deciding to heed her advice for once. To be frank, the witch scared him when she was like this. Absentmindedly, he rubbed his jaw, remembering third year. Her punch would have only grown more forceful. He didn't want to experience how much so first hand.

"Now look here Malfoy. The fact of the matter is, whether or not we want to be, we are technically engaged now, and—"

I'm not an idiot Granger, I can speak English and I understood all the announcements," he interjected.

She glared at him for a moment, then plowed on.

"The fact of the matter is, whether or not we want to be, we are technically engaged now, and there's nothing that we can do to change that. I propose that we make a truce, and try to make the best of this desolate situation."

Draco smirked. Stupid, naïve, Gryffindor. How typical.

"Do you really think that I'm going to just get along with you? Act as though everything's okay? Marriage doesn't change the fact that I hate you. They can force me to marry you, but they can't make me love you!" He was shouting by the end, the situation finally taking its toll on his fraying nerves.

"I don't expect you to love me" Hermione said quietly. "I would like some respect and tolerance however. In fact, I expect it." She added firmly. With that said, she grabbed her toiletries and marched into their bathroom, slamming the door for good measure.

Harry and Ginny winced as they heard a door slam from within Draco and Hermione's room.

"They thought not to put locks, but they forgot to soundproof the walls," Ginny laughed.

Grinning at his fiancée, Harry cast a quick _muffliato_ charm with a flick of his wand, and leaned in to kiss his wife to be, his love.

**There we are—the stage has been set—let the fun begin!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's another one! I just wanted to thank everyone who has contributed in some way, whether it be through a follow, favourite, or review. Your support gives me incentive. Shoutout to Lovewriting12 who has reviewed every chapter!**

**Props to the genius JK Rowling**

Hermione and Draco bickered all the way through their respective nightly routines. Later, Draco lay tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The severity of his situation had finally caught up to him. How could he marry a woman with whom he couldn't remain in a room with for five minutes without fighting? He had to pledge lifelong commitment and celibacy from all other women to her? He had to impregnate her, and raise a family with her? The truce suddenly didn't seem like such an unreasonable idea. But this was Granger he was talking about. They had been rivals, enemies quite frankly, since their first year. She had caused him much ridicule, for being beaten by a muggleborn in all his classes, and hated the ground that he walked on. Furthermore, she now symbolized all of the pain and suffering he had undergone the year before, as well as causing him gut-wrenching guilt whenever he looked at her. All he could see was her writhing on the ground under his aunt's wand. He could still hear her piercing, agonized cries as the fiery pain of the cruciatus curse consumed her. He had stood by, unable to do anything to stop her torture. She represented the worst side of him, and now he would have to look at her every day. Look into her eyes and know that he had done nothing. Needless to say, Draco had a very restless night.

The following morning, he was woken from his fitful sleep by the sound of impatient tapping. Peering blearily at the window, he saw one of the school owls hovering, a scroll attached to each leg. For a moment he wondered why it only had two scrolls attached, had the other boys already gotten their schedules? Glancing around sleepily, he was jolted fully awake when he realized that the only other bed in the room was occupied by a sleepy woman with an unmistakable unruly mane of curls. At this, he felt the last bits of hope ebbing away—this had not all been a nightmare, he was in fact engaged to Granger.

Opening the letter addressed to "Mr. Malfoy" (After making sure that the other letter wasn't addressed to "Mrs Malfoy—he wasn't ready for that yet) he saw that it contained his class schedule. "Marriage Prep 101" was among his classes. In fact, he had it first thing. He sighed. Unfortunately, he needed Hermione for that class.

"Granger! Get up." Hermione groaned but didn't budge.

"Granger! Wakey wakey!" Still nothing. Draco was beginning to lose patience. God she was a pain in the ass. Then, he had an idea that put a wicked smirk on his face.

Making his voice sound panicked, he cried, "Quick! Class starts in five minutes!"

It seemed as though before he could blink, Hermione had jumped out of bed, run into the bathroom, and come back out dressed, brushed, and ready to go.

"What do we have first? Oh God where is that owl with my schedule?" Hermione looked distinctly flustered.

"Ready for breakfast?" Draco smirked.

"Breakfast!?" I don't have time for breakfast! Class starts in—"

"One hour." Draco cut in smoothly. Handing her her schedule, he strutted into the bathroom with the intention of taking a looooong leisurely shower, leaving behind an enraged Hermione. Maybe this would be more fun than he had originally thought.

xxxxx

"Oh my gosh he's so unbelievably annoying!" Hermione bemoaned to Parvati and Ginny at breakfast. (Harry was sitting with Ron, who was refusing to sit near Hermione) "I mean I didn't think that he'd be loveable or downright nice, but he's so incredibly irritating. I offered him a truce and he laughed in my face, and then he purposely woke me up early by scaring me half to death."

"How did he do that?" Ginny asked with concern.

"He told me that classes were in five minutes!" Hermione proclaimed sounding outraged.

Ginny and Parvati exchanged a glance before bursting into laughter.

"It's not funny!" Hermione said adamantly. "Have you forgotten that I have to marry this twit!?"

Her two friends immediately became somber. "Right, sorry Hermione." Ginny tried to comfort her friend.

"How was Blaise?" Hermione asked Parvati, in a clear attempt to change the subject.

"Meh. He's not so bad." Parvati said with surprising indifference. "Kind of quiet to be honest. Definitely no chemistry as of yet, but I suppose that's better than pure spite and fighting….sorry Hermione." She added hastily. "I got an ab view, and let me tell you, those are a definite bonus!" She gave her signature eyebrow waggle. Ginny gave her the thumbs up while Hermione just rolled her eyes.

"Do you ever think you'll be able to love each other?" She suddenly asked softly.

Parvati considered the question seriously before answering, "I think that normally, if we hadn't been from different houses and such different social circles, maybe something could have happened. Now, because of this marriage law, it seems as though the impossible has become possible…I guess only time will tell." She finished thoughtfully.

Hermione mulled over her words. Could this marriage law really make a miracle happen? Could she find happiness with Draco Malfoy?

The first marriage prep course certainly didn't make her think so.

All couples had to sit together, and things actually started off alright because well, Hermione and Draco didn't talk to one another. Then however, the instructor, who was some ministry official, told the couples that they had to discuss their aspirations for their future with one another. That was when the problems started.

"What are your aspirations for the future Granger?" Draco sneered. "To find some miracle mousse that will tame that beastly hair?"

"What is with your obsession with my hair Malfoy?" Hermione snapped in exasperation. "Just because I don't drown mine in gel like you do doesn't mean I have problems. Oh and by the way, you really shouldn't slick it back like that. It only makes your abnormally pointed face even more extreme," she added casually, conveniently forgetting to mention that his pointed face had become increasingly handsome over the years.

"And for the record, I hope to pursue a degree in magical law enforcement, and had hoped to _someday _marry _for love_ and eventually raise a family, but I guess that part has to go down the drain."

"Because the ministry is sticking me with you." Malfoy finished for her snarkily.

"Your words not mine." Hermione replied evenly. "Now please, enlighten me on your aspirations," she continued rather haughtily.

"I'm thinking about becoming a Healer," Malfoy said.

Hermione didn't quite manage to hide her surprise quickly enough. Malfoy looked at her contemptuously.

"Someone's judgmental," he said smugly.

"I'm just surprised…that didn't seem to be your kind of thing." Hermione said carefully.

"Well Granger, either you know me so well that you know what kind of career I want, or you don't and you're marrying a stuck up twit who's a half stranger. Which is it? Hermione said nothing. He'd gotten her and he knew it.

"I'm sorry." She said after a moment, deciding to be the bigger person.

"How about that truce?" Draco laughed, not unkindly, after a moment.

"I'd like that!" Hermione said excitedly.

"Too bad." Draco snickered.

Hermione sighed. Back to square one.

On the other side of the room, Blaise and Parvati were arguing as well.

"Two!"  
"Four!"

"Two!"  
"Four!"

"Two!"  
"Four!"

"TWO"  
"FOUR"

"ARGH!" They cried in unison.

"Damnit woman! Give me a break! Four kids? What do you think I am, a zookeeper?"

"What are you complaining about? I'm the one that has to push them out! If I'm fine with four than what's your problem?"

Blaise opened his mouth, closed it, then abruptly burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Parvati asked in confusion, not sure if she should be disgruntled or not.

"We barely know each other, have been forcibly engaged for barely a day, and we're already arguing—but about how many kids we're going to have!" Blaise hooted.

After a moment, Parvati joined him, before pausing and saying, "You know, given the situation, maybe that's not such a bad thing to argue about."

Blaise nodded in agreement then added, "You know, you're not so bad."

They grinned at each other.

Harry and Ginny were arguing as well—but about the next Quidditch match between England and Ireland. They had started talking about the future months ago, as they had already begun having discussions about building a life together before getting officially paired. They were confident in both their plans as well as in each other.

Surprisingly, Ron and Astoria were among the couples who weren't arguing. Unsurprisingly, it was because they weren't speaking due to previous arguments. She hated the way he snored. He hated how many clothes she had and how she was incessant in her primping. Privately they were both completely at a loss as to how they had gotten paired. They had absolutely nothing in common. They were both currently in the midst of privately brooding about a pair across the room—Ron about Hermione and Astoria about Draco. Maybe they did in fact have something in common.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the slight update delay! Please accept this chapter as an apology. The plot is beginning to thicken. :)**

**Creds to the genius JK Rowling**

Hermione dragged her feet as she trudged down the hall to the pods. After her experience the night before, she really didn't fancy spending any more time with Draco in their…bedroom. She couldn't get over the fact that even though his side had been in the wrong the year before, he was still treating her like crap. Sure he hadn't called her a mudblood or any such thing, but he still jumped at any chance to antagonize her. However, Hermione did have to admit that she had been in the wrong somewhat as well during class this morning. Why shouldn't Malfoy be a healer? Maybe he was trying to atone for wounds he had inflicted during the war by healing other wounds now. Yet if that were the case, why did he still try and inflict emotional wounds on her? Her mind was going round and round in circles, and yet for all of her brains and cleverness Hermione simply couldn't seem to make sense of the situation.

She had stayed as late as she could in the library, trying to minimize the time spent in the same vicinity as Malfoy, so when she got back to her pod she found the common area to be empty. Tiptoeing quietly to her bedroom so as not to cause a disturbance (She had discovered the hard way that Theodore Nott had an incredibly short temper,) she opened the door and slipped in. She sucked in a breath as she saw Malfoy lounging on his bed reading a magazine. She wrinkled her nose in distaste as she saw a naked woman on the front.

"Don't judge Granger, don't forget I'm being forced into premature celibacy from all women but you, so essentially, premature celibacy." He wrinkled his nose as he examined her over the top of his magazine.

Uncomfortable with where his eyes were lingering, Hermione marched over to her bed, grabbed her nightclothes and marched on into the bathroom to change.

It was a bit warmer than the night before so when she returned she wore a tank top instead of a full shirt with her pajama pants under her housecoat. When she leaned over to fluff her pillows, the robe fell open and Malfoy sneered,

"Trying to seduce me Granger?"

Having had enough, Hermione straightened up angrily to retort but stopped short when she saw that his face had glazed over and his eyes were focused on her neck. She was about to snap at him demanding what had come over him when realization dawned on her and she looked down, seeing the puckered scar where Bellatrix's knife hade pierced her skin as she blackmailed Ron and Harry in Malfoy Manor.

Noticing her comprehension, Malfoy snarled, "That wasn't my fault!"

Holding his gaze, Hermione replied, "I know," quietly, before slipping into her bed and rolling over to face the wall, not saying anything else that night.

Malfoy spent another restless night as he mulled over the encounter he had just had with Hermione. She had said that she knew that it wasn't his fault, but she couldn't be serious. It had in fact been his fault, or so Draco thought, so why would she say it hadn't been. She must be playing some sort of mind game with him, but Draco had no inclination of what it might be. If she didn't already hate him, she surely would now that he had reminded her of what his family had done to her. The guilt that always lingered in the pit of his stomach flared up as he was once again overcome with memories of the terrible night when his crazed aunt had inflicted that injury on Hermione. As he relived the terrible memory over and over, Draco became more certain than ever that he and Hermione could never work. Though he would die before he admitted it to anyone else, Hermione was simply too good for him.

xxxxx

"Weeeeaaaselllll."

Ron clenched his fists together as he heard her dreaded voice from the other side of the room. This must truly be what Hell was like.

"Weeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssseeeeellllllll!"

Ron counted down in his head. Three….two….one…

"WEASEL!"

"What the bloody Hell do you want woman!"

"Your help."

That stopped Ron short. His suspicions were immediately aroused by her words. (About the only thing that'll ever be aroused by her!) he thought to himself bitterly.

"My help." He repeated, his voice dripping with contempt.

"Yes, O fiancée of mine." She was equally spiteful. "I want Draco, and for whatever impossible reason that stupid mind of yours has come up with, you want Granger. I am willing to work with you if we can help each other achieve our means."

Ron was silent for a few moments as he contemplated her words. Somehow, Astoria seemed to sense this and actually left him to his thoughts. A battle was raging in Ron's mind. Though he was angry at Hermione, he still loved her. But to get her, he would have to work with Astoria, and most likely betray and hurt Hermione along the way. Insensitive as he often was, Ron still didn't want to hurt her like that. He managed to convince himself that he would be helping her in the long run by rescuing her from Hermione, and yes, he admitted it, saving himself from holy matrimony to Astoria was a huge factor as well. His current fiancée was a blonde bombshell, but she was also a prissy pig. He had made up his mind.

"Deal."

xxxxx

"…and when we were in Switzerland, Daddy and I found this new breed of nargles and…"

"SHUT UP!" Theo roared. "I don't give a rat's ass about what you and your freaky father hallucinated that you saw in Sweden—"

"Switzerland." Luna interjected quietly. "And furthermore," her voice grew louder and more firm, "My father and I are not crazy. Just because you can't see past the end of your ignorant nose does not mean that I am crazy. I don't know what your problem is, but you better get over it or at least stop taking it out on me. I am to be your wife not your punching bag."

Silence ensued after her outburst. Theo didn't say anything else. Once again, the dreamy blonde had left him speechless.

Luna smiled as she opened up her latest copy of The Quibbler and started reading an article about Wrackspurts. Her husband-to-be hadn't apologized, but he hadn't said anything else offensive either. In her strangely perceptive way, Luna knew that things had just changed, and that they had changed for the better.

xxxxx

This time, Draco awoke after Hermione. It seemed that she had made a point to get up first so that she could hog the bathroom.

"Granger! Hurry the Hell up!" He shouted as he banged on the door.

Another ten minutes passed, and still she had not vacated the bathroom. Accustomed to getting what he wanted when he wanted, Draco's patience, which he was naturally predisposed to have very little of, was wearing thin.

He went and pounded again. "Granger if you don't get out of there before I count to ten I'll—"

He never got to finish his sentence, for the door had swung open and Hermione stood before him with her wand pointed at his throat. Somehow he must not have heard the shower stop over his shouting.

"Or you'll what Malfoy?" She asked with a dangerous edge to her voice. "You'll hex me?"

Draco didn't say anything, deciding to just glare at her. It was then that he became aware of the fact that she was wearing nothing but a towel. He glanced down and saw her creamy white legs peeking out from under her towel, which in a very un-Grangerlike way left very little to the imagination. Draco gulped. It couldn't be. He couldn't find Granger attractive. He really needed to shower and wake up.

As he stood under the hot spray, Draco shook his head, trying to knock some sense into himself. He couldn't let this marriage law drive him crazy. He had to maintain who he was. He was Draco Malfoy, and she was Hermione Granger. Yes she was a woman, yes she was attractive, and yes she was kind hearted and clever. But she was also his enemy, and Draco could not let himself forget that.


	6. Chapter 6

**I struggled with this chapter a bit, and I'm sorry. Hope you like it…I promise that I have plans. **

**~Thanks JK.**

As she rushed around getting ready for the day, Hermione's cheeks flamed as she dwelled on the interaction she had just had with Draco. What had she been thinking, storming out of the bathroom in only a towel? The truth was, she hadn't been thinking at all—he knew how to get under her skin more than anyone else. She felt terribly embarrassed, usually being a much more conservative person. To have exposed herself the way she had was not something she normally would have ever done, and to do so in the presence of Draco Malfoy made the situation a million times worse. A part of Hermione had to admit however that there had been something thrilling about the situation. The way he hadn't been able to help himself as he let his eyes wander up and down her body, or the way that they had widened as it dawned on him that he liked what he saw. It satisfied Hermione to know that she had caught Draco Malfoy off guard, and over her body no less. Her stomach tightened in knots as she remembered the lust that flashed momentarily in his eyes. Maybe there was a chance at chemistry between them. Though she still despised his attitude; despised him in general; the encounter they had just had reminded Hermione of her unwavering loyalty and belief in Hogwarts and its elders, forcing her to ponder whether maybe, just maybe, the Sorting Hat knew what it had been talking about.

xxxxx

She continued to mull things over as she munched on her toast in the Great Hall, until she was interrupted by a voice that she would have known anywhere, a voice that she hadn't heard in a few days.

"Hey," Ron Weasley said tentatively.

"Hello," she responded coolly.

"Listen 'Mione, I'm so sorry. I should never have said what I said. But you have to understand, I was really hurt when you seemed so unaffected by not getting paired with me—I mean, you were my girlfriend for Merlin's sake!"

Hermione paused and really thought about his words.

"I understand that Ron, and I'm really sorry. But please, if we can't be together can we please at least be friends? ….I don't want to lose you completely….I love you, even if it's not in the way you want."

"That's actually why I'm here 'Mione," Ron replied seriously. Then his face broke into a smile and he added, "I really missed you!"

Hermione grinned ecstatically. Reaching over, she enveloped Ron in a huge hug, and just like that, it seemed as though everything was forgiven.

"Come on!" She jumped up and grabbed a stack of toast. "We have a free first period, shall we take a walk around the lake?"

"Hermione Granger, using a free period to go for a walk!?" Ron asked, half serious, half mocking.

Grabbing his hand, Hermione held his gaze and said, "Some things are more important than even school."

As Draco observed the spectacle unfolding at the Gryffindor table, he didn't know how he felt about it. Though he still hated Granger, he was a traditionalist, and now that he was engaged, he did believe in exclusivity, even if it was to the Gryffindor bookworm. The fact that his fiancée seemed to be heading down a path that involved her cheating on him, with a _Weasley_, none the less, made his blood boil.

"Well well well, it appears as though you and I are both getting screwed over by our Gryffindor counterparts," an overly syrupy voice crooned in his ear.

"Hello, Astoria." Draco said curtly.

"Have you ever heard the saying 'fight fire with fire'?" Astoria nearly cooed.

Knowing where she was going with this, Draco said, "Absolutely not happening Astoria!"

"Come on Drakeypoo, don't you remember the fun we used to have?" Astoria leaned forward in such a way as to reveal her generous cleavage.

Trying to avoid gazing in that general vicinity, Draco couldn't help letting his mind race. If Granger was going to go have fun with the Weasel, then why shouldn't he, Draco have some fun too? He had to admit that Astoria's offer was a tempting one. As annoying as she was, she was also inarguably attractive. And did the rules really apply given the circumstances of their engagement? Maybe he could withhold from abiding with the traditional rules until he was actually married. Maybe this would in fact teach the bloody bookworm a lesson while also letting him have some fun.

Placing a hand on Astoria's thigh (a fair ways up the thigh at that) Draco said, "Alright, looks like you're the luckiest lady at Hogwarts today."

xxxxx

It had been so nice to spend some time with Ron. Hermione didn't know what had made him come around so quickly, his sulkiness usually lasted far longer than this, but she wasn't complaining. They had strolled around the lake, just chatting and goofing around lightheartedly, just like the old days, until Hermione finally said that they really should get back to their pod and grab their books, also like the old days. As liberal as she was being, actually spending a free period the way she was, her leniency would absolutely not extend to being late for class.

When they reached their pod, they separated and went to their respective rooms. Hermione was laughing at a joke that Ron had just told her, and so it took her a moment to process what she was seeing. When she finally did, she let out a tremendous gasp at the sight of Draco and Astoria Greengrass intertwined on Draco's bed in a passionate embrace. Her eyes took in the trail of clothes from the threshold to the bed….the only articles of clothing that did not appear to have been discarded were their undergarments. Although, Hermione thought bitterly as she looked at them, it seems that it would only have been a matter of time until those had been removed as well.

"Excuse me Granger, but we're a little busy right now." Malfoy sneered as he became aware of her presence in the room.

Hermione's temper flared even more at being made to feel like an intruder in her own room when he was there cheating on her.

"Excuse you! You're the one cheating here!"

"Don't be a hypocrite you filthy little Gryffindor!" (Astoria privately seethed with anger at his use of 'Gryffindor' instead of 'mudblood.' She really did have her work cut out for her.)

"What on earth are you talking about?!" Hermione cried shrilly.

"You and Weasley, me and Astoria. It only seems fair doesn't it?" Draco asked, hating himself for the sincerity that lay behind his words.

"Ron and I only went for a walk!"

"Didn't look that way in the Great Hall." Draco said, not quite masking the sulkiness in his voice.

Hermione suddenly looked taken aback. "Were-were you _jealous?" _She asked incredulously. Astoria sat up straighter as she awaited Draco's answer in earnest.

"Of course not!" Draco sneered. "Why would I be jealous if Weasley wants to taint himself with your germs. He can have you for all I care, because I certainly don't want you." He injected as much acidity into his words as he could. But as he saw the hurt flash across Hermione's face, he wished that he weren't such a good actor.

"I hate you Draco Malfoy! I didn't do anything and here you are sleeping around. I don't care how much you hate me, the fact is that you have to marry me and it would be nice if you could remember all of the commitments that that entails. You may despise my blood status and my house but you are going to have to marry me, so the sooner that you grow up and get over yourself the better." Hermione sounded devastatingly broken.

Once again, Draco was overcome with guilt, and he wasn't alone. As Ron listened to Hermione's words from where he hid on the other side of the door and heard the pain behind them, he felt terrible. He had just intentionally hurt her, whether or not his reasons had been loyal. The only person not upset by the events that had just transpired was the sultry blonde who sashayed smugly out of the room, pleased by the damage she had just done. Draco would be hers in no time.

Draco and Hermione were left staring at each other, Hermione with tear-stained cheeks, Draco racked by guilt. Surprisingly, it was Hermione who broke the silence.

"Why? Why did you do it?" She whispered.

"Because I wanted to get back at you," Draco blurted out.

"For what!?" Hermione cried in desperation.

"For cheating on me!"

"But I didn't!" Hermione repeated.

"Well I thought that you had, and that was unacceptable. As much as I hate you, I was raised to take marriage seriously, and I expect you to do the same."

Suddenly, Hermione's face broke into a smile. "Why Malfoy, I do believe that we agree on something."

Draco couldn't help returning her smile after he had processed what she was referring to. After a moment however, he added, "I still hate you Granger!"

Hermione only shook her head at his words however, because she could have sworn that he had meant the remark humorously.


	7. Chapter 7

**I am so incredibly sorry for the delay. My teachers all decided to assign major projects at the same time. I had to write a paragraph a day for several days instead of all at once. Fortunately, March break is coming up and I'll hopefully be able to get a few chapters ahead. Thanks for sticking it out with me!**

**~Thanks to JK!**

"Did you ever want to have kids?" Hermione asked Draco softly.

He looked up at her in surprise from his assigned seat next to her in their marriage prep course. Ever since their frank talk after the incident with Astoria, they had been operating under an unofficial truce. They didn't seek each other out, but they didn't argue either. They had maintained an air of cordial distance. This was the first serious thing either of them had said to the other, well, ever.

"Absolutely not." He replied vehemently.

She looked slightly surprised, but asked calmly, "Why?"

He considered her seriously, his brow puckered. He didn't know how much to say. Quite frankly, he had never opened up to anyone.

Seemingly understandingly, she said, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I understand, really."

That was what convinced Draco.

"It's because of my father. I don't want to risk turning out like him in the slightest. No child should have a father like him. I know that part of him is in me, and I don't want to unleash that on anyone. Then my kid would turn out like me."

It was now Hermione's turn to study Draco. Inside, her heart was both soaring and breaking. He had just trusted her with the most intimate of information, but the sorrow that thickened his words was gut-wrenching. There were so many comforting words that she wanted to console him with, but she sensed that he would not want to hear any of them.

"Well! I didn't know that all it would take was some reverse-psychology!" She said lightly.

Smiling slightly, he held her gaze and replied seriously, "It's because you actually wanted to listen. You cared, not just for some juicy tidbit of gossip, but for me."

xxxxx

Later that night, the pair was in their room reading in a fairly companionable silence that was only marred by the occasional turn of a page until, out of the blue, Draco said,

"What about you?"

The sound of his voice jarred Hermione, who had been thoroughly engrossed in her book as she always was.

"Wha-what about me?"

In the past, Draco would have mocked her for her bookwormness. He realized now that it only made her endearing. (Not that he'd ever admit that.) "Do you want to have kids?"

"Oh yes!" Hermione said in her fervent way. "Someday for sure, though I had wanted to start a career first," she added sadly. With a straight face, she added, "It won't be easy creating that miracle mousse you know. How am I to do it with kids under foot?"

Draco felt a slight pang of guilt as he laughed sincerely at her joke. She really was funny he mused. Her clever mind allowed her to have an acerbic sense of humor. What amazed him the most was that she was able to take his terrible treatment of her and laugh at it, as though she was finding the best in him, something that was no easy task he was sure. The phrase "opposites attract," floated across his mind teasingly. Tonight, his reflex reaction of angrily pushing that thought away felt more habitual than reflexive.

xxxxx

Hermione was appalled at herself. Her conversations with Draco had gotten her to thinking about babies….more specifically, about the conception part of the process. Until now, when she thought about the "having babies" part of the Marriage Law, she had dwelt on the fact that her kids would be part Malfoy. So focused was she on that aspect, that her horror had made her oversee the part where she'd have to have sex with him. "Merlin, I'm dead!" she whispered to herself. While she and Ron had kissed, they'd never really done much more than that. The truth was, Hermione really was not very experienced in this department, and there was no doubt in her mind that Draco was (as she had witnessed just the other day she thought resentfully.) How was she supposed to expose herself, make herself vulnerable in the utmost way, with Malfoy? She was terrified. She was also the sort of person who really had to be attracted to someone to want to be with them. It struck her that this part of the issue might not be such a problem after all.

xxxxx

As Hermione sat having breakfast with Harry, Ginny, and Parvati the next morning, she felt very relieved to be away from Draco. It wasn't that they had fought or anything, she just found it exhausting to spend large segments of time with him as she felt like she was always on her toes, slightly on edge. Their relationship was still too volatile. It was nice to be back with her old friends and Parvati, who was quickly becoming part of their group. The four of them simply chatted lightly throughout breakfast, only stopping when they were laughing too hard. No one mentioned the continued absence of Ron, who was sitting over with Seamus and Dean.

While Ginny and Parvati were engrossed in a conversation about the latest edition of _Witch Weekly, _something that neither Harry nor Hermione had the slightest interest in, Harry turned to Hermione and said quietly,

"Sorry Mione, but I have to ask—how are things playing out with Malfoy?"

Hermione smiled bemusedly. "Strangely well, all things considered, though I wouldn't say that I'm completely happy."

"Strangely well!?" The shock in Harry's voice was unmistakable, making his exclamation sound ten times louder than it was.

"Yes, we don't argue all the time, he treats me alright half the time, and we had a rather deep conversation yesterday." Hermione stopped herself from describing their conversation as "intimate," fearing that it would have been too much for Harry….and for her.

"What on earth did you find to talk about!?

"It—it's personal." Hermione blushed.

Harry stared at her incredulously. "You have secrets now too!?"

"Oh never mind!"

"Mione." Harry seemed at a loss for words. Rubbing his temples, he composed himself and said. "I—I'm happy for you."

Hermione beamed at her friend. That was so Harry, putting his friends first, always so loyal.

"Don't worry Harry, you'll still always be my number one man!" Hermione elbowed him and they laughed, relieved to return to a familiar routine.

xxxxx

"He's staring at you!" Parvati hissed in Hermione's ear during potions class where they were working as a pair.

Hermione looked up at her words, across the classroom, where Draco was indeed staring at her as he stirred his _Draught of Death. _Upon her catching his gaze, he snapped his head down, and Hermione could have sworn that there was a faint pink tinge to his cheeks, though it was hard to tell with the darkness of the dungeons.

Draco was furious with himself. He was losing his touch, no one ever caught him looking at them! Though he was learning that Granger was not your average person. He had been staring at her because he had been seriously contemplating the idea that had struck him that morning during breakfast as he had observed the ease with which she talked to Potter. The depth of their familiarity was clear. Draco knew instinctively that if their marriage was going to work, he would have to get to know her as well. The problem was the solution that he had come up with, it terrified him. But as Draco watched her (sneakily) once more, he made up his mind.

When Slughorn finally gave the familiar command of, "Cauldrons out, potions bottled, bags packed, students out!" Draco followed the instructions and hurried to catch up with Hermione who was often one of the first students out in her eagerness to head to their next class. When he finally leveled with her, he blurted out his question before he lost his nerve.

"Granger, what would you say to going on a date?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Next chapter up! I managed to work in a few direct book and movie references, hope you can find/like them. **

**I wanted to thank those of you who reviewed with comments on the storyline, they proved very inspirational, and helped me set the story straight. Thank you also to those who reviewed in general—please continue doing so, it means the world to me!**

**~Creds to JK Rowling**

_Previously: When he [Draco] finally leveled with her, he blurted out his question before he lost his nerve._

"_Granger, what would you say to going on a date?"_

xxxxx

"A-a date?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Smirking, he continued, "Whether or not we like it, we're engaged, so we might as well form a truce and try to get along."

"That quote rings a bell," Hermione chuckled. "Tell me, what wise person are you quoting?"

Draco laughed as well. Deciding to really lay it on thick in desperation, he replied, "Not sure, but as I recall, an egotistical ass replied that he didn't care, something which he now regrets deeply." As the finishing touch, he arranged his face into what he hoped was a bashful smile. He wasn't quite sure, never having given one before.

Hermione abruptly looked concerned. "Are you alright? You're grimacing."

"Oh! Uhh…just thinking about what a loser I've been."

"Really!?" Hermione beamed. "Well, you can pick me up at 7 then!"

"Alright." Draco smiled.

"Merlin! I'm late for class!" Hermione cried. Just like that, she was gone.

xxxxx

"Uh…Granger…I have to get ready for our date too you know…" It was 6:30, and Draco was standing outside their bedroom, which Hermione was currently hogging as she got ready for their rendez-vous. To his relief, the door opened a crack as Hermione stuck her head out.

"Shh!" she urged. "If Ginny or Parvati get wind that we're going out they'll want to play dress-up and we'll never get out of here!"

"Fine. But can I PLEASE come in!" Draco begged.

Hermione sighed but stepped aside. "So much for getting picked up or being surprised by each other's outfits or anything."

"Welcome to married life, Granger." Draco smirked.

Hermione threw a pillow at him which surprised him, but which he nevertheless caught, laughing as he did. To an observer, they would have appeared like good friends.

"So, I'll get ready in the bathroom shall I?" Draco offered awkwardly.

"Works for me," Hermione replied with a seemingly great effort to avoid eye contact.

Draco finished applying cologne and was just about to slick back his hair from where it fell casually in his face when he was interrupted by a soft knock at the door.

"Could you give me a hand?" Hermione's slightly muffled voice came from the other side of the door.

Opening the door, Draco gasped and turned away quickly, thinking that Hermione was naked.

"Could you zip me up?" she asked, turning around.

Taking a peek, Draco realize that she was only in fact bare backed due to her unzipped dress. Hermione turned beet red when she realized the misunderstanding.

"Sure, sure." Draco hurried to say in an attempt to glaze over the awkwardness.

Hermione turned around for a second time, exposing her back once more to a very nervous Draco. He didn't know what had come over him. He was usually incredibly suave with the ladies and had seen more than one naked female. It felt different this time, maybe because there was more than just physical connection here. It was all foreign territory to the supposed ladies' man.

Draco shakily reached out and grasped the delicate zipper. Working hard to keep his hands steady, he began to zip the dress. Without meaning to, his finger traced her spine as he zipped, and he heard Hermione suck in a breath. Finishing quickly, he stepped back and tried desperately to find something to say. As usual, Hermione beat him to it, though this time, Draco was grateful.

"Shall we go?"

"Sure. Just give me a minute to fix my hair."

"You should leave it the way it is," Hermione offered shyly. "I like it down, it suits you."

"Al-alright."

xxxxx

As they walked through the halls, Hermione had to ask:

"Where are we going for dinner?"

"Well, that's up to you. We can have whatever." Draco replied as they stopped in front of a familiar blank wall.

"The room of requirement!"

"I was going to plan a picnic, but something told me that you might object to having the house elves prepare a meal."

Hermione seemed at a loss for words. "Thank you!" she said fervently.

"Don't take that as a sign of me joining S.P.E.W. though!" Draco added emphatically, to which Hermione giggled. Draco smiled to himself. Her bubbly laugh was truly charming.

"I could go for some Italian," Hermione declared.

"Italian it is!" Draco said as he marched back and forth three times to make the room appear. Opening the door, they were greeted by a candlelit table laden with bread, pasta, and wine.

"I thought a touch of French would be equally appropriate," Draco said, indicating the décor.

Hermione considered their date a success. Upon Draco's suggestion, they played twenty questions and discovered that they had things in common and could in fact carry both a civilized as well as pleasant conversation. One on one, Draco really did let his guard down and was sincere and charming. Hermione only wished that he could be that way with her in public.

xxxxx

The news of Draco and Hermione's date spread like wildfire through the school. While it was old news that the two were getting married, the fact that they were getting along and were cooperating so much with the program was a shock to many, and a hot conversation topic in the days that ensued. A few days after their date, Hermione had just arrived at their pod to drop off her school bag before dinner when she heard a fateful argument taking place.

"How dare you blame it all on me when you did nothing!" Hermione heard a female voice screech. "How is their date my fault? If you hadn't snuck away when she entered the bedroom then maybe this wouldn't have happened! All you did was take her for a walk around the freaking lake! At least I tried!"

Hermione froze. "_As soon as she entered the bedroom….a walk around the freaking lake." _Images of her excursion with Ron flashed before her eyes. The events of that day took on a whole new, calculated meaning. The way that he had behaved with her in the Great Hall where Draco would have been sure to see them. In her mind, she saw him tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear, edging closer to her on the bench—it would have been the perfect decoy for Astoria to seduce Draco, when he was feeling angry and betrayed.

At that moment, Ron stormed out of his and Astoria's bedroom. He didn't see Hermione, didn't notice her point her wand at him or murmur a familiar incantation. Luckily for him, he did hear the squawk of one of the birds and managed to dodge out of the war path of the flock of yellow canaries torpedoing toward him.

"What the bloody Hell was that!?" He gasped indignantly.

"RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY!"

"Bloody Hell woman! Are you mad?"

"HOW DARE YOU! OH THE NERVE!" Hermione brandished her wand in his face and Ron flinched.

"Who do you think you are, trying to jeopardize my engagement!?" Hermione screeched.

"Don't you get it?!" Ron roared, his own temper flaring up. "I was trying to help you! Wizard marriages are binding—once you say I do, you're stuck with him forever, and I'll be stuck with that witch! I was trying to save us!"

"And just how exactly is plotting with Astoria helping me?" Hermione asked scathingly.

"Well we know that the Ministry will never just let us not get married, but we thought that maybe if the four of us agreed to switch it would work…" Ron trailed off, sounding decidedly embarrassed.

"Trade off." Hermione laughed mirthlessly. "Please do enlighten us on the details of your genius plan."

"Well, Astoria would marry Draco and you and I would…" he dwindled off at the fury etched on her face, looking as though he wished the floor would open and swallow him whole. "Everyone would be happy with that scenario you see?"

"No I don't." A drawling voice joined the conversation. "I would certainly not be happy marrying that pathetic excuse for a witch."

"You would take Hermione over Astoria!?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"Any day." Draco said simply.

Harry and Ginny, who had been observing the whole exchange in open-mouthed disbelief, shot each other a glance, both having seen the blush that coloured Hermione's cheeks at Draco's last statement.

Ron didn't say anything, as though waiting for a punch line, but none came. Instead, he was left standing there, mouth opening and closing like a fish. Hermione decided to intervene…though biasedly.

"And _I _would take Draco over you any day of the week. You don't own me Ronald. I make decisions for myself, not you! So thanks but no thanks!" Nose up in the air, she walked off to her room and slammed the door. Draco smirked at Ron before following her.

Harry whispered to Ginny, "Sorry hun…your brother..."

"I'm not!" Ginny exclaimed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Malfoy is so much better for her than Ron!

xxxxx

As Draco entered their bedroom, he joked, "In the interest of further demonstrating just how superior I am to the Weasel, I'm not even going to make fun of him…" he trailed off when he realized that Hermione was curled up in the fetal position on her bed, sobbing.

Draco was terrified. He could deal with monsters and dark wizards, but crying women were a whole other brand of magic that he really couldn't handle. This was his fiancée however, whether he liked it or not (and the jury was out on that one,) so he gathered up the little amount of courage that he had and walked over to the bed. Conjuring some tissue, he practically shoved it in her face and awkwardly patted her shoulder saying, "There there." To his surprise, Hermione actually emitted a watery laugh and said "Is that the best you can do?"

Draco's guard immediately went up and he snapped, "You ungrateful witch! I'm doing the best that I can okay?"

"No no, you misunderstand! I was just teasing. I really do appreciate the effort, after all, I, well I, really didn't expect so much from you, so it's twice as meaningful."

"Oh. Well, you're welcome."

Sniffling, Hermione still managed to get in the last word of their latest verbal sparring match. "Who said anything about a thank you?"

Draco laughed, before asking seriously, "Why are you crying though Granger?"

"Ron."

Wrinkling his nose, Draco couldn't help but demand, "Is he really worth crying over?"

Tears springing to her eyes, Hermione replied softly, "I'm beginning to think that he isn't, which is precisely what is so terrible about all of this! It's always horrid losing a friend, know what I mean?"

"No, I wouldn't," Draco replied softly.

Hermione frowned. "But…you were always so popular…"

"Because of followers, not friends."

"Blaise—?"

"Is a relatively new addition."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be…you get used to it, trust me."

"Well, I guess this does explain the utter lack of people skills!"

"Hey!"

"Sorry, couldn't resist."

"Of course not. You never could keep your mouth shut could you?"

"Touché."

"Malfoy?"

"Yes Granger?"

"Two things actually. First—"

"—Nothing's ever simple with you is it?"

"Are you finished?"

"No, but go ahead. I'm sure I'll make up for it later."

"First, shouldn't we call each other by our first names? We are getting married after all…."

"I've never heard of a vow that you had to take saying that you'll operate under a first name basis when you get married, but if you insist then fine."

"Well then _Draco,_ the other thing that I wanted to say is that I consider you a friend now."

"Thank you Gr-_Hermione._"

As he considered the witch before him, Draco had mixed feelings about their budding friendship. Inwardly, he was thrilled at the prospect of not only having a friend, but of having Hermione as a friend. He was discovering that she was in fact a fantastic companion. But he was also saddened, and frightened, because as he looked at her with her wide-eyed kindness and sincerity, not to mention her brilliant mind and strength that allowed her to hold her own against his pessimistic attitude toward life, he was beginning to feel that friendship wasn't enough for him.


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter is written in the spirit of "not making Draco super nice too quickly," as has been suggested. However, I do want to really start moving the plot along so consider this chapter the compromise. xD Thank you for all of your suggestions, I do take them all to heart! **

**I'm also going to do some shameless self-advertising—I'm currently also publishing another Dramione and I'm actually much more proud of that one so please do check it out. :) (Don't worry, I alternate chapter updates so by no means is that one taking precedent over this one.)**

**Thanks to JK**

Thanks to their latest conversation, Draco and Hermione's relationship had once again risen to new heights. They seemed to genuinely get along now instead of the previously forced cordiality. Their sharp intellects and hot tempers provided an excellent foundation for entertainingly heated debates that satisfied them both. Thy actually sat together in certain classes and chatted in the pod common room or hallways. It was on one such occasion that they found themselves walking to their latest marriage prep course together. Most of the students had grown used to this inter-house unity between the "couple," chocking it up to their impending matrimony. Several Slytherins however, were furious with their poster boy, feeling that he had betrayed his house and its beliefs. It was bad enough that he'd gotten paired with the Gryffindor princess; here he was acting kindly toward her as well. It was unclear whether or not Draco was oblivious toward their attitude or whether he was aware and simply choosing to ignore it. Both options seemed highly unlikely given his ingenuity and pride. The answer to that question was however, answered that day.

When the mish-mash of couples had arrived at the marriage prep course, Professor McGonagall was there to greet them with a strange announcement.

"The class today will be split. Boys will stay here with me and the ministry official, and girls will go into Hogsmeade to shop for wedding dresses."

There were squeals of excitement from several of the girls. A wedding dress was a wedding dress, no matter who the groom might be. Hermione was silent. A dress would make this entire ordeal even more vivid. Even if she was getting along with her fiancée, there were still some wrinkles to iron out. Though she was getting along with Draco, he was still friend zoned to her. She considered him a friend, but a spouse was a whole other can of worms. Furthermore, she could be marrying her prince charming for all she cared and she would still be facing this situation with trepidation. The fact remained that Hermione simply wasn't ready to get married yet. A wedding dress would be a tangible reminder of her arranged marriage; her first material symbol—yes, she didn't even have a ring yet.

"What will the boys be doing?" Parvati asked.

"That will remain a surprise for now," Professor McGonagall replied mysteriously. Hermione could have sworn that her eyes had twinkled as she said it.

Their excitement to go dress shopping outweighed their curiosity, and the girls filed off to Hogsmeade without complaint.

"Professor?" Theo asked in his typically abrupt way as soon as the girls were out of sight.

"Come," McGonagall said imperiously. "We have something important to discuss."

The boys entered the class quickly, their curiosity peaked.

As soon as they had taken seats, the ministry official began.

"It is now time for you all to pop the question so to speak. I know that some of you may find this exercise pointless," he continued quickly, noting several skeptical expressions, "but we want these weddings to be as authentic and traditional as possible, as well as believing this to be an excellent bonding opportunity."

Draco's palms were slick with sweat at the idea of asking anyone to marry him, let alone Hermione. Even though he was technically engaged, a ring made it seem so much more serious and final. There would be absolutely no backing out of this after he proposed. He tuned back in as the official continued.

"You must all propose by Halloween, as weddings will begin in December. There will be a dance on Halloween to celebrate the engagements. Just think boys, at least you know that you won't be rejected!" The official gave a weak laugh as though he almost felt bad for the predicament of these young people.

The boys spent the remainder of the afternoon excused from class, designing the engagement rings. It seemed that the ministry was trying to give them some free reign in their bleak situation. It was like feeding a captive animal gourmet food, Draco thought bitterly. He thought long and hard about the design of his ring. No matter the circumstance, getting engaged would certainly be a momentous occasion and Draco wanted to do it right. Secretly, he also wanted to make it something that Hermione would like. She seemed to like the simple, meaningful things in life, and it was with this thought in mind that Draco finally chose a design. It was a slim gold band with a traditional diamond in the center, cut in a square shape with a smaller square ruby on one side and an emerald on the other. Gryffindor and Slytherin, united by marriage. Draco felt quite pleased with his work.

He looked up to see that a few of the others had finished as well. Harry had designed an extremely traditional, though beautiful ring, gold with a large diamond mounted on it, and the ring itself inlaid with tiny diamonds. The Weaslette would love it. Draco was surprised to see that Theo had finished as well. His ring was silver, with a sapphire in it.

"Uh, wrong gem, Theo man," Blaise called out.

Everyone was shocked to see Theo turn red as he mumbled, "It matches her eyes." Blaise looked at him incredulously, as though questioning his sanity. Draco however, smiled privately as he observed the growing acceptance and adoration his friend was developing for the odd Ravenclaw. He himself was beginning to feel as though he could empathize.

xxxxx

Hermione hated to admit it, but she was having a good time. The girls had decided to take turns modeling dresses, giving each other comments and opinions until each girl had found the right dress. Hermione had enjoyed this, until it was her turn. She felt incredibly self-conscious and nervous, as well as not having a sweet clue what she was looking for. She tried on dress after dress, feeling increasingly guilty for taking so much time. Her indecision didn't seem to faze her peers in the slightest however. On the contrary, they seemed to be growing more and more determined to find her dress for her. When she did finally find "the one," it was worth the wait.

It ended up being a simple, modest dress that Hermione chose. White satin, with thick straps and pearl buttons down the back and a high neckline in the front. It fell seamlessly to the ground where it trailed behind her slightly. It was the adornments that completed it. The dress was covered with a subtle design, formed by silver thread sewn all over it. The thread could not have been anything but magical, it was so incredibly subtle that it seemed only to sparkle when the light hit it a certain way, yet it was always there, striking the perfect balance between seen and unseen, subtle yet incredible. It was the one. Hermione felt like a princess in it, as though nothing could touch her. She couldn't wait to see what Draco would think of it. She completed the walk back to Hogwarts with a new spring in her step. It was a shame it couldn't last.

xxxxx

As the boys were packing up their bags in preparation for the girls return, Blaise asked Malfoy about his ring design. After Draco had described it to him, Blaise commented,

"Man, you and Granger now are like night and day to you and Granger before. One would swear that you two have become friends."

An unpleasant voice joined their conversation uninvited.

"It's disgusting isn't it? What a disgrace he is to his family, to his house, and to his status. Drooling over that mudblood day in and day out." Adrien Pucey sneered.

"Adrien—" Blaise began warningly. Draco was seeing red. His defenses were immediately on alert.

"Did you see the way he concentrated when designing that ring?" Pucey continued with a terrible smile. "Total concentration, preparing his filthy ring for his mudblood fiancée. What a traitor. How could you like her Malfoy? What is it that attracts you? The bushy mane, bossy attitude or the prudishness?"

Years of hiding his true feelings in the name of self-preservation finally kicked in and Draco snapped.

"Nothing about her attracts me!" he shouted, his voice ringing in the silence, as the other guys had fallen silent to observe the exchange between Draco and Pucey. (McGonagall was finalizing details about the engagement celebration with the ministry official in his office.) "She's annoying and vile, and I burn with anger every time I think about how that hat dared to pair me with her. Can you believe that I'm going to be forced to spend the rest of my life with her, that I'm expected to_ touch_ her? I hope that my parents die in Azkaban so they never have to endure the shame of their son marrying a mudblood."

Draco felt utterly terrible as he spoke those horrendous words, but he couldn't stop. The idea of having his house hate him was too terrible. Adrien stuck out his hand to shake Draco's in approval of his words, and Draco shook it, feeling horrible but relieved the entire time. Adrien opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by a shout piercing the classroom.

"YOU ASS!" Hermione shouted. The girls were back.


	10. Chapter 10

This couldn't be happening. Any moment now, Hermione was going to snap out of it and realize that she had zoned out to the drone of the other brides-to-be chattering endlessly about lace and frills and dress styles. Unfortunately, she quickly realised that this was no nightmare that her apprehensive subconscious had dredged up, but cold hard reality. Why was it that every time she and Draco seemed to make progress, he had to turn around and be an arse? She didn't know how long she could continue this way. It was incredibly frustrating, and now that she actually cared, hurtful. The worst part was that she had no choice, she had to keep enduring this, there was no way out. To think that she had sided with him over Ron! She had been loyal, and here he was backstabbing her to that dreadful Slytherin Pukey or Pucey or whatever. Whipping out her wand, she marched over to him and put her wand to his throat. Her fury was such that he backed up until she had him pinned to the wall with her wand and anger. The time that she had punched him in third year flashed across Draco's mind.

"I will marry you Malfoy, because I have no other choice. But if you think that I am willing now, you're wrong. I was actually beginning to think that there were worse things, but now I'd sooner duel Voldemort than marry you. You're a despicable human being and I'm ashamed that I'll be known as your wife."

As she turned to storm away, Draco saw that her anger did not quite hide the hurt that was evident on her face. The site made his gut twist.

She stopped at the edge of the silent room, (they had quite effectively captured the attention of everyone in the room,) and turned to say,

"And if you think that I will ever pin you up against a wall again like just now because of passionate feelings of any sort, you're wrong. After we've had the necessary number of children, your man-parts can shrivel up from misuse for all I care." Shooting him a scathing look, she stalked out of the room with Ginny and Parvati right on her heels.

As soon as Hermione had left, Astoria sidled up to him and blew him a kiss saying,

"Nice one Drakey. You've very nearly gotten rid of her. Soon we can be together."

Draco looked at her in utter disbelief and contempt. "I always knew you were stupid, but I never knew you were quite so delusional."

Astoria laughed airily and reaching out, began to massage his shoulders. "Oh Drakey, you're just tense, it'll all—"

"Get. Off. Of. Me." Draco said in that way of his that had Astoria backing away quickly.

"Aww, calm down Draco man, no need to get riled up, she is just a mudblood after all." Adrien said.

It was now Draco's turn to have his wand to someone's throat.

"Shut it, Pucey!" he snarled. Then, at the look of disbelief on Adrien's face, because he didn't quite want to let go of the act until he had sorted out this terrible mess between himself and Hermione, Draco added, "She is still my fiancée."

"Barely." Blaise muttered.

xxxxx

"Hermione I am so sorry!" Parvati said breathlessly. (Hermione was _fast_when she was angry.)

"I'm going to kill that ferret!" Ginny said angrily.

"Stop."

Her two friends looked at her in confusion.

"What-what do you mean?" Parvati asked timidly.

"I don't need your pity!" Hermione burst out. "I know that you are both happy with your marriage arrangements. You're just here for me out of pity and I don't want it!"

"Mione, we're here because we're your friends," Ginny began.

"GO!"

Casting one-another a sideways glance, her two friends quietly left her as she demanded, leaving Hermione more alone than ever.

xxxxx

"Hey Mione," Harry Potter said quietly as he gently sat down next to his distraught best friend a while later.

Hermione did not reply right away, choosing to bury her face in Harry's familiar shoulder. Harry just sat patiently, letting her lead. Eventually, she whispered,

"I was beginning to like him."

Squeezing her shoulder, Harry simply said, "I know." Inside, he was burning with contempt at the man who had caused his best friend this pain, but Harry had learned a lot last year, and he knew that his anger was not what Hermione and Malfoy needed. They needed to figure things out—they had no choice.

Hermione's voice shook with her next words.

"Why Harry? Why?"

Harry thought carefully before replying, "Because he's a Slytherin, and you're a Gryffindor. And try as people might, some problems don't fix themselves overnight. But they can be fixed, there just might be some hurt along the way."

"Clearly." He added to himself.

xxxxx

Draco paced back and forth in his and Hermione's room, every once in a while casting a nervous glance at the door through which Hermione would undoubtedly eventually enter. This scene and these feelings were becoming all too familiar, Draco thought rancorously. Yet this time, the blame rested squarely on his shoulders. And he simply had to patch things up. For though he and Hermione didn't have to get along to be married, though he could continue to be an embittered, nasty Slytherin and side with his housemates and still tie the knot, he didn't want to. For truthfully, Draco cared for the clever Gryffindor. He wanted to make the marriage work. He truly felt badly about how he had hurt her, and he wanted to make amends. At that moment, the Gryffindor in question flounced into the room. Draco's stomach leapt into his throat. Here it was. Here was his chance.

"Hermione, I—"

"Shut up." The anger and resentment in her voice made Draco feel like he'd been _stupefied._ While she had rarely been immediately forgiving, she had never sounded like this. Sure, she had sounded disgusted at him before, or like she despised him, but this time, hatred laced her voice. This went beyond dislike. This time, is outburst had been the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Never mind." Draco whispered, despair seizing him inwardly as he spoke.

"That's what I thought." Hermione snapped. As she said it, her voice shook, and that was a hundred times worse to Draco than the anger.

xxxxx

Later that evening as Draco lay alone in their room, (Hermione was out with Ginny and Parvati, no doubt cursing him at this very instant,) Draco decided that if Hermione wouldn't speak to him knowingly, the trick was to make her do it unwittingly. If he managed to get back into her good books that way, then he could truly apologize. "Among other things," he thought, as he fingered the ring that felt as though it was burning a hole in his pocket.

Draco was temporarily grateful for the solitude in their room as he got to work. Taking his textbook for _History of Magic_ class that he had never, and would never open, he transfigured it into a simple-looking black book. He then flipped it open and tapped each side of the page. "_His" _appeared on the left side and _"Hers" _on the right. He then took his _Divination_ textbook and did the same so that he had twin books before him. Grasping one of them, he dipped his eagle quill into some ink and began to write on the _His_ side. As he did, the words began to flow not only into his book, but into the other as well, as though some magical being was penning the same words in the other book. Seeing this, Draco smiled as he wrote. This would work, he was sure of it.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I am so sorry about what happened between you and your fiancée today. Though, knowing him, I am not surprised. The fact of the matter is, he doesn't deserve you. I wish the Sorting Hat had decided that I do. I have liked you from afar for many years. Though I know that I have absolutely no chance in the world now, thanks to this Marriage Law, I do know that you could use a friend now, and I would be more than happy to help you any way that I can. I understand if you don't want to write to someone that you don't know in some strange magical book, but if you do, know that I am here. Don't forget, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. ;) _

_Sincerely yours,_

_A Secret Admirer_

When he had finished, he placed the other book with his letter on her pillow and as the finishing touch, conjured a single red rose that he lay atop it. Then, he hurried out of the room so as not to appear suspicious.

A while later, Hermione arrived at their room, feeling a lot better after making up with Ginny and Parvati, and then spending quite some time mocking the Slytherins to one another, (minus Blaise of course.) She was all set for a hot bath and a good night's sleep. When she entered their room however, she was stopped short by the sight of a red rose on her pillow. Thinking that it was a good will gesture from Draco, she marched over to the bed and banished it exasperatedly. Upon doing that however, she was once again surprised by a black book that lay innocently on her pillow. Not one to ever cause damage to a book of any kind, Hermione picked it up and carefully opened it. She knew that in the magical world, books could be incredibly dangerous. However, this one was unlike any she had ever seen. There was something inherently magical about it, and as she flipped through the pages, she saw that it was a diary of some sort, yet one that seemed designed for two people as the pages were divided into "_His" _and "_Hers."_ When she got to the first page, she saw that the "_His" _side of the page had been filled in by a message from…a secret admirer? And he wanted to talk to her? She assumed that she was to write her reply on the other side of the page. But how would he read it? Was he going to sneak into her room and take the book to write his next letter? Well, there was only one way to find out. As practical as she was, Hermione also possessed a fierce curiosity, something that she developed no doubt from being friends with Harry and Ron for so long. Seizing a quill and some ink, she began to write her reply.

From where he sat in a secluded spot in the library, her fiancée smiled as words began to appear on the "_Hers" _side of his book. This would work, he just knew it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello all! I am so sorry for the delay, I have been studying and writing all of my big exams for the past month. I am now on vacation for several months however, and am looking forward to frequent updates! I can say that we are nearing the end of all of the angsty stuff, and I am still deciding how I want to proceed from there-should I do a detailed account of their engagement/marriage/pregnancies or should I just write one major epilogue? Let me know what you all would prefer, and once again thank you so much for your patience!**

_Dear Secret Admirer, (is that what I am to call you?)_

_Thank you. You are absolutely right-I do need a friend right now, someone who is more removed from the situation than my other friends. I am sure that you have heard what has happened between me and my fianc_é_e-no doubt everyone in the school has heard, given the way gossip travels in this castle, and the level of juiciness to this story. _

_If you have heard about the incident between me and Draco, could you maybe shed some light on the situation? For I really don't know what to think. The truth is that...(_Here she had scratched out the beginning of that sentence,) _Anyway enough about me for now. How about you? I would feel more comfortable if I had at least some inkling of who you are. _

_Yours,_

_Hermione_

_Dear Hermione,_

_Hmm...what to tell you about me...Well, I am tall, male, and incredibly good looking...Seriously though, I think in order to describe myself accurately, I need to describe two people. Who I really am, and who I present myself as. The real me is a very insecure person who hides behind a carefully constructed façade. I wasn't raised in the most loving home-my parents loved me and each other greatly, but we never showed it in the kindest of ways. I love flying, and secretly, absolutely adore reading and potions. I have a very dry sense of humour, though it often manifests as incredibly cruel when I am hiding behind my façade. The person I present myself as-well, let's just say that maybe I can sympathize with your fianc_é_e, as no doubt his outward cruelty is a façade as well. I present myself as an arrogant, mean-intentioned individual, but it is because I am fearful of looking weak or vulnerable. I realize now that I have unintentionally made myself to be exactly the characteristics I fear the most through my actions. I realize that this probably hasn't helped you much._

_As for your problems, I have indeed heard about them, as has everyone else as you suspected, though have no fear, it seems that most of the negativity is falling on Draco not on you. _

_Truthfully, while Draco's actions were most despicable and cruel, they are unsurprising. And I don't mean because he is always despicable and cruel, though indeed he is, but because it would be hard for him to be anything else, particularly towards you, given the upbringing he has had. I said that I understand Draco better than you might expect, and that is because I suspect that he too leads a double life in how he presents himself versus who he really is. His parents were death eaters don't forget, and he was raised to be one too, as well as to be prejudicial, powerful, and cruel. While I suspect that he can change, it can't happen overnight, and it will require much patience and kindness on your part. _

_I think that you are also willing to put the time and effort in, whether or not you are ready to admit that or not. I'm guessing that those crossed out words in your previous entry were the beginning of a confession of some sort...do you harbour feelings for Mr Malfoy? You did refer to him as Draco after all...(_Draco smiled as he penned, this, and had purposely worked in this observation as he had spent a good few minutes staring at the five letters forming his first name...she had called him 'Draco,' not 'Malfoy,' or indeed any bad name!) _Maybe I am wrong or out of line, but I couldn't help wondering..._

_Sincerely,_

_Your Secret Admirer_

_PS, you can call me whatever you wish, 'Secret Admirer' included, for that is what I am. ;) I hope that someday, I will be able to remove the 'Secret' part of that title..._

_Dear Friend, for that seems fitting,_

_While your self-description didn't help me in deducing who you are, it was most informative! I thought long and hard about your words, and I have come to the realization that you are right, and that the problem that you claim to have is most certainly shared by Draco. I realized how obtuse and self-absorbed I have been. While Draco's actions have been most inadmirable and are truly inexcusable, they are explainable, and that is enough. I suppose I had no right to assume that someone with his upbringing would just magically become kind and non-prejudicial. I also realized, that he is not alone in his prejudice. Not only along with the other Slytherins, but with me as well. For I have been completely judgmental toward him, and have given him no benefit of the doubt. As I sat and pondered the relationship that he and I have shared over the past several weeks, I noticed a pattern. Anytime that he displayed true cruelty was in front of the other Slytherins. When it was just the two of us, he was quickly becoming consistently kind and comfortable with being around me. Maybe there is hope for us._

_However, there is still the fact of the matter; that he is consistently unkind to me in front of his fellow Slytherins, and that I still believe that he strongly dislikes me, and we have nothing in common. Oh if only he were more like you, you seem so sensitive, and love to read and enjoy potions-I feel that you and I would get along most well! _

_Yours,_

_Hermione_

So the exchanges continued, with Draco feeling as though he was walking on air. Whether or not Hermione knew it, she and he did have a lot in common, and she was falling for him. This knowledge made their face to face exchanges much more bearable, for though she was flippant and blatantly angry at him, he felt comforted knowing that as soon as she flounced away, she picked up her journal and penned her "Secret Admirer," a letter, which he would immediately get, beginning a real conversation between them. Now all that was left was for him to find a way to bridge the two very different relationships. Unbeknownst to Draco, something was to happen which would effectively do that for him.

xxxxx

McGonagall announced one day to the seventh and eighth years that the ministry was having second thoughts about the Marriage Law. While it was determined to see it through, for the population problems that they were facing were quite pressing, it was regretting the difficult situations it had placed some of the students in, and was going to conduct some tests to determine which couples might have no chance of finding happiness together and was planning on re-matching those wizards and witches.

"I thought that the Sorting Hat was never wrong?" Ginny asked.

"After observing you all interacting, the Ministry has deduced that while the Hat is never wrong about sorting witches and wizards into their proper houses, it may not always be the most adept matchmaker." McGonagall explained.

Hermione's heart was soaring at McGonagall's announcement. Turning to Harry, she whispered, "This is it! This is my chance to be rid of Malfoy! Not only that, but maybe I'll get resorted with my Secret Admirer! We do seem to be well suited for one another!" Harry smiled at his friend. He had seen the resurgence of Hermione's happiness once she had started conversing with her admirer. He could tell that this boy, whoever he was, made her very happy. He hoped that the ministry would do the right thing and pair them together, though he had his doubts. It had already royally screwed up after all.

xxxxx

A few days later, McGonagall called all of them to her classroom, where they were greeted by her and none other than Percy Weasley, who McGonagall explained would be conducting the test. Percy, in his pompous way, instructed them all to split into their current pairings and sit together at a pair of desks. He couldn't help casting an approving glance at Harry and Ginny and a scathing look at Astoria. Once they were all seated, he waved his wand, producing what appeared to be a questionnaire in front of each of them, along with a quill and an inkpot. Hermione noted that the quills looked much like the anti-cheating quills that they wrote their exams with.

"The procedure is simple. Fill out your questionnaire, which will be compared with your current partner's questionnaire once you have completed them. The compatibility of the results will be deduced. Those whose compatibility is below 50% will be re-paired." Percy explained. "Begin!"

xxxxx

Once all of the students had completed their questionnaires, Percy collected them all into a pile with a wave of his wand and tapped the pile three times, telling the expectant and nervous students that it would take a few moments for the spell to process all of their answers and to sit tight. Those few minutes felt like the longest of Hermione's and Draco's life, which was saying something.

Eventually, bright blue sparks shot from the pile, causing several students to jump, as the accompanying bang resonated twice as loudly in the tense, quiet class. Lavender pieces of parchments materialized in front of each student. Gingerly, Hermione picked hers up and read it.

_The top answers that indicated who your ideal match was were these:_

_1\. On a scale of one to ten, how much do you enjoy reading? Answer: Nine_

_2\. What is your favourite secret pass time? Answer: Writing in my secret two-way journal_

_ do you most wish to accomplish? Answer: Becoming brave enough to show the world who I really am, not who I present myself as. _

Hermione could barely contain her excitement. These answers had to have come from her secret admirer-she was going to be placed with him! She excitedly tapped the parchment with her wand where it said, "_And your prince charming is_..." Finally, she was going to see who her true match was. Her elated grin turned to open-mouthed horror when she read the name that appeared. Jumping up from her seat she whirled on Malfoy and cried, "You!"

Smiling up at her excitedly, Malfoy simply said, "Me."

"It was you? You were my secret admirer? But how? That was-"

"-the real me. And I'm sorry that it took so long for me to show myself, but I'm ready now."

Feeling weak-legged, Hermione sat down and studied Draco. For the first time, she didn't see his sharp, pointed chin, the fading dark mark on his left arm, or the coldness of his grey eyes. Instead, she saw how his eyes were lit with excitement, the delicate structure of his face, softened now that he wasn't sneering, and his lips...his beautiful lips, smiling at her. Hermione realized that she was finally, truly, seeing Draco Malfoy...and she liked what she saw. It was to him that she had poured out her heart and soul unabated for the past several weeks, who had understood her and made her laugh. She could see herself continuing in this same happy vein with him for a long time to come. So when he sucked in a deep breath, and bravely asked, "Hermione Granger, even though it is now clear that you absolutely have no choice, will you choose to marry me?" she replied, without hesitation,

"Yes."

And Draco Malfoy finally got to do what he had so been craving. Taking the ring out of his pocket, he slipped it onto the finger of the clever, kind, muggle-born witch who sat beside him. Smiling at each other, both looked down at the beautiful ring, bejeweled with emeralds and rubies, Slytherin and Gryffindor, side by side, united.


	12. Chapter 12

**It seems that a few of you felt unhappy with the way that the last chapter played out, feeling that it was too rushed/that Hermione would have been upset that Draco was 'tricking' her-I'm sorry that you felt that way. By way of explanation, I think that Hermione wouldn't have felt that it was rushed once she realised that Draco and her Secret Admirer were the same person, as she had fallen in love with her Secret Admirer, the 'real Draco.' It was also the only thing that Draco could do, as Hermione wouldn't talk to him. Hope that helps, and thank you for the feedback, I certainly took it into consideration when deciding where to go with this chapter ! **

Hermione and Draco weren't the only couple who had survived the test. Harry and Ginny had naturally, as well as Luna and Theo-that was a bit of a surprise, though not as much of a surprise as the fact that Theo seemed relieved, and actually flashed Luna a quick smile. Luna patted him on the arm and returned his smile dreamily. Hermione would have sworn that there was definite chemistry between the two. As she continued to study her classmates looking for new matches, she realised that she wasn't finding any. No sooner had she thought this then Percy was providing an explanation.

"Ahem - attention please!" He began importantly, in typically pompous Percy fashion. "You may have noticed that you were all re-matched-with your initial partner. This is because this alleged 'test' was proving you, not the Sorting Hat, wrong. You all have things in common. You all have chemistry, and the possibility of a very happy relationship. But you are all letting prejudice cloud this potential. The sooner than you realize this, the better."

At these words, Draco shot her an adorable conspiratoral wink and grin and squeezed her hand. His actions sent the flock of butterflies in her stomach into a mad frenzy as she returned his eager grin.

Some of their other classmates did not seem as pleased. Ron and Astoria were alternating between sending each other nasty grimaces and sending them Hermione and Draco's way. Feeling slightly spiteful, Hermione reached over and gave Draco a peck on the cheek. He looked surprised but happy, almost ratified. Leaving over in a conspiratoral fashion, he whispered, "We'll continue that later," returning her kiss on the cheek.

Hermione nodded and tried to look happy, though inside her stomach was in knots. She knew that Draco was quite experienced in that department, something that she was not. She and Ron had only ever kissed, passionately at times, but not more than that, and they had certainly never had sex. What if Draco had high expectations? What if she did something wrong? She was sure that he wouldn't expect more than a kiss right now, but on their wedding night... Hermione never liked feeling rushed into anything, and certainly not something of this magnitude. Sure she liked Draco, maybe even loved him, but her virginity was never something that Hermione had planned to take lightly, to throw away callously.

Hermione was quiet the rest of the class, clearly deep in thought. Draco chalked this up to the test that they had had and what it had revealed; it was a certainly a lot to process. Besides, Hermione was always deep in thought! She was also quiet all the way back to their pods, and once they had gotten back to their room. This was fine with Draco, in fact, he had an activity in mind that required very little talking.

"So," he said walking over to her. "About that promise of mine back in class."

Backing up slightly, Hermione reached her bed and sat down. Misinterpreting this as flirting, Draco followed her and carefully sat next to her. He senses her nervousness, but not her reluctance. Cupping her face gently with his hands, he whispered,

"I've been waiting a long time for this."

"Me too," she breathed back before she could help herself, so distracted was she by his calloused hands on her face and his penetrative gaze on her.

Smiling softly, he leaned in and slowly, carefully, brushed his lips against hers. Her response was instinctive, immediate, lead not by her mind. Roughly, she threw her arms around his next and took control of the kiss, making it passionate. She loved him, she _wanted _him. Bodies and sheets became tangled as they fell back on the bed and the kiss deepened. Both shed the others shirt and began exploring each others bodies. Only when Draco unhooked her bra did Hermione get hit with a dose of cold hard reality and she pushed him back firmly.

Undeniable hurt marred Draco's face - never before had he been rejected, nor had he ever had emotional attachment to the object of his affection. "What's going on?"

Hermione's voice was small, meek. "I can't do this."

Draco's answer was cold. "You don't trust me." It was a statement, not a question.

"No! It's not that ! I'm just not ready...I-I'm a virgin," Hermione confessed.

Draco chuckled. "I had assumed as much."

"I want to - I'm just not ready yet. "

"On our wedding night?" Draco asked softly.

Relief washed over Hermione at his understanding. "On our wedding night."

"Speaking of which, we should probably get planning - we need to pick a date and get cracking!" Draco exclaimed.

"Oh my goodness your right!" Hermione exclaimed. "There's so much to do-I have my dress of course but we need to get flowers and a band and we have to send out invitations...I wonder if the ministry will instill a limit on how many guests we can invite. We'll either have to get married at a venue other than Hogwarts or find a way to let my parents in because they really must be here-" Hermione stopped short. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

Draco tried to brush off the topic that Hermione had inadvertently brought up with a display of bravado. "Nah don't worry about it. It's not like it's a loss - as far as I'm concerned, they can rot in Azkaban. I owe them nothing, certainly not a wedding invitation, even if they weren't in prison."

Hermione studied him for a moment before continuing as though nothing had happened-she had correctly deduced that Draco wanted nothing more than to have a change of subject.

As Draco watched her chatter on, he shook his head in disbelief, wondering how someone could possibly be as geeky as her.

"...I found several books on wedding planning and on the comparison of muggle-wizard traditions that I've been reading. I can lend them to you..." So geeky. Such a bookworm. -His bookworm, he thought fondly.

xxxxx

Lucius bit back a cry of rage in his cell as he read the page of upcoming wedding announcements published by the Ministry in The Daily Prophet as this week's update on their trial project His son was ruining any chances the family had of redeeming the Malfoy. Not only was he marrying a muggleborn AND a Gryffindor, but it had to be the most vile one of all- that bitch Granger. No. It couldn't be. Lucius would have to do something about this very serious problem.


	13. Chapter 13

Hermione and Draco had picked a date for the wedding (February 24th, a Winter wedding, but not so close to Valentine's Day as to be corny,) had finally agreed on a guest list, and had booked a band. That is to say, they had finally agreed on a band and were hoping that the Weird Sisters would be available. That task was on their to-do list along with dozens of other things which were all making Hermione very anxious, and therefore, cranky. Draco was anxious as well, but not due to flower types or colour hues. He had written to his mother out of a sense of duty, informing her of his impending wedding, but urging her to feel no obligation to come. He had hoped that she would get the politely veiled message, but apparently she hadn't. His owl had quickly returned with a hastily scribbled note, containing a single line.

_I am coming. _

All that Draco could now do was hope that she would be cordial and courteous to his bride-to-be. He was quite nervous, though hopeful. His mother had always been the more open-minded of his two parents, and she had allied with Potter during the Great War, albeit for selfish reasons. What's more, his wedding day would be jam-packed with things to do and with people. If she was sour, she wouldn't have time to dwell on it. Yes, everything would be okay. He did however, keep the news of his mother's RSVP to himself, there was no need to further worry an already stressed Hermione about something that she could not control.

The day after Draco had received the letter, he and Hermione were holed up in their room pouring over the draft seating plan Hermione had created, looking for any "problem pairings," which was proving to be a very difficult task given the multitude of Slytherins and Weasleys invited. Draco was grateful for the respite offered by the knock at their door, until he opened it and saw who it was.

"Mother!?"

"Hello son," Narcissa greeted regally.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing here?" Draco exclaimed.

"I told you I was coming, I'm here to help," Narcissa replied evenly, though her gaze was fond as she gazed at her only son. It sharpened considerably, however, when she looked past him and caught sight of Hermione, who had been sitting there observing the exchange sporting a shocked expression. When she saw Narcissa looking at her, she got up from the desk and politely greeted her with a,

"Hello Mrs. Malfoy."

Narcissa appraised her from top to bottom, and continued to Draco as though Hermione had not spoken. "Clearly, much help is needed," she sneered, voice cold, as she stared at Hermione in the way one might examine a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of one's shoe. It was clear to both Draco and Hermione that she wasn't referring to help with wedding details.

His mother's attitude towards Hermione was much like the attitude Draco would expect from his father., and with a sinking feeling, he began to wonder just how much his father had to do with his mother's surprise appearance and hostile behaviour.

"Hermione," he began quietly, "might I have a moment alone with my mother?"

"Of course," she replied shakily, probably thrilled at the opportunity to escape Narcissa's piercing glare. As she passed by him on her way out, Draco made a show of squeezing her arm in what he hoped appeared to be a display of affection.

As soon as Hermione had left, Draco rounded on his mother.

"What is your problem?!" He spat.

"My problem, is that my son is not only marrying a mudblood, but doing so without a shred of despair!" Narcissa responded hotly. "The shame of your actions is sickening!"

"Do you hear yourself?" Draco cried. "The war is over! There is no reason for this continued hostility or prejudice. Furthermore, Hermione is treating me more kindly, more lovingly, than you or father ever have. I know that these are his words, not yours mother. I don't know what sick ideas he fed to you during your last visit to him, but do not listen to him! He is lost to you forever, locked up in Azkaban for his sins. You must move on, you are free from him and his twisted ideals. Please." he begged.

Narcissa stiffened at his words, though for a moment, her eyes softened. Draco thought that he had gotten through to her, and relief flooded through him, though it was quickly abated, for her eyes hardened once more and she stalked up to him and breathed a terrifying message in his ear, making him shiver. "It isn't over. If you do not take care of your bushy-haired problem, I will, my son, for your good as well as for the good of the family's reputation. It has already been unfairly tarnished enough over the past couple years, and I will not let the Malfoy name be further tarnished by a marital union with a mudblood, you mark my words." Whirling away, she swept out of the room, leaving Draco alone but for his spinning head and his worries.

Hermione soon returned, anxiety plaguing her face, and demanded to know what was going on. Wearily, Draco relayed his mother's threats. Hermione sat silently for several moments, digesting the news, before turning to him and asking seriously, "Am I in danger?"

Draco considered carefully before replying, "Yes. It has become clear to me that my father must be behind this, and he will not hold back from such a 'threat.' Oh Hermione, I'm so sorry!"

"It's not your fault Draco, but we must deal with this. Let's go to McGonagall immediately."

So the pair did. She listened carefully, clearly taking them seriously. When they were finished, she said,

"This is most definitely something about which we must be concerned. But let it trouble you no further, for I will go immediately to summon a ministry official who will fetch Mrs. Malfoy for questioning. No matter what the outcome, she will not be allowed near either of you, and will be banned from any upcoming wedding ceremonies."

Thanking her, the pair bid her goodbye. As soon as they had left the Headmistress's office, Hermione burst into tears.

"Whatever is the matter?" Draco asked her desperately, utterly confused.

"We've barely been engaged a month and already I'm tearing your life apart further."

"No! Absolutely not, Hermione." Draco said firmly. Though inwardly he was distressed about his mother, he placed no blame on Hermione. If anything, this reminder of his twisted family made him more grateful for the life and opportunities his wife to be was opening him up to. If any doubt or prejudice had remained regarding Hermione and her blood status, they had been eradicated by his mother. Though he would have to mourn for the effective loss of both of his parents, he felt comforted knowing that he would have Hermione at his side.

"I don't blame you in the slightest. This is simply proof of how they and their ideals were wrong, and of how lucky I am to finally have someone like you in my life."

"That you do, Draco," Hermione smiled up at him. And for the first time, she leaned up and initiated a kiss.


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm trying to bring some of the other characters back into the story, as I noticed as I was rereading that it had become very Dramione-centric and that I had started to develop other characters and hadn't finished. Hope you like where this is going, it's also going to hopefully help move the story along to other stages of their marital journey. :) Happy reading, and creds to JK Rowling!**

Ginny Weasley's period was late. Very late. She'd never been late a day in her life, and here she was, a week after she was due. _Due. _Gasping, she began counting backwards in her head, mouthing the numbers as she went. When she was finished calculating, her jaw dropped into a round O as she realised what was probably causing her predicament. It had been a few weeks ago, on Halloween, after the celebratory dance. Harry had gotten down on one knee and procured a stunning ring. There was something about actually having a ring, a symbol of their love and commitment, not to mention his words of love as he officially proposed, that erased any doubts and eradicated any warning signs she might have had. They continued their celebrations in the privacy of their room later on. Panic washed over her as with dread she stiffly performed a spell she had hoped not to use for a while to come. Waving her wand over her belly, she looked on with horror as a blue mist poured from her wand tip and settled over her stomach like some perverse flag, announcing her pregnancy.

xxxxx

A shrieking cry of "HERMIONE!" jerked Hermione from the standard trance she fell into when reading.

"Ginny!" she said, concerned. "Whatever is the matter?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" asked a worried Parvati, who, along with Luna, had been drawn to the scene of commotion by Ginny's cry.

"Come in here," Ginny said as she pulled the two girls in and quickly closed the door before casting a silencing charm over it. She now had the other three girls extremely nervous by her odd, secretive behaviour.

Turning to face her three friends, she observed the concern and caring on each of their faces, which gave her the courage to blurt out the words before she lost her nerves, or worse, began to cry. "I'm pregnant."

You could have heard a pin drop. Total silence greeted her statement. It was broken by a typically odd statement by Luna, which somehow saw past all the drama to the simple fact of the matter.

"How unsurprising," she stated simply.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Ginny retorted hotly, both annoyed by the anti climactic reaction to her dramatic statement as well as by what Luna had unwittingly implied.

"Well it's very clear that you and Harry love each other very much, and you have to get married anyway, so I imagine there didn't seem to be any reason to wait." Luna said serenely. "Besides, it would appear that you got pregnant around the time of your engagement right? It makes sense."

Ginny simply stared at her bemused, taken aback once more by the other girl's quiet deductions.

"Well, no judgement here," Parvati interjected. "I mean, I'm a bit surprised that you two didn't use birth control. I mean, I know that we're all expected to get pregnant in a few months anyway, but Blaise and I agreed to use protection until after the wedding because, even with this new law, the wizarding world is still fairly conservative and there would be talk if people found out. Sorry Ginny." she added hastily.

The other girl didn't seem to notice however as she gasped, "You and Blaise are having SEX?" almost before Parvati had finished.

Blushing, Parvati explained, "Well yes. I mean he finds me attractive, and Merlin knows he's gorgeous, and we have to do it eventually anyway, so why wait?"

Hermione felt as shocked as Ginny sounded. She also felt betrayed somehow, as she listened to her two friends who were clearly much more comfortable with their respective fiancées than Hermione was. Ginny was one thing, marrying Harry whom she had been with for a couple of years and who she had loved for even longer. But Parvati was also marrying a Slytherin and here she was sleeping with hers.

It was then that she felt a gentle hand on her arm.

"Are you okay?" Luna asked her quietly, though she needn't have as Ginny and Parvati were jabbering loudly about details that Hermione wanted to hear none of.

"No I'm not," Hermione answered honestly. She really wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about the cloud of emotions fogging her brain, but there was something about Luna, her earnestness and sincerity, that made Hermione want her as her confidant. "I feel...alone. And prudish. Ginny and Parvati are having sex with their fiancées, Ginny's pregnant for Merlin's sake, and Draco would do it with me in a heartbeat if I allowed it,...but I want to wait until we wed." She paused here, not quite sure if she was ready to divulge why.

Luna smiled kindly at her as she spoke. "Theo and I haven't done anything yet. We're just not ready. I like him, but a couple of months ago we hated each other. It seems a bit premature to give everything just yet. Besides, it also feels that by choosing to wait, I'm retaining control over at least one aspect of this whole debacle. It's one very important decision that the ministry can't make for me." Luna told Hermione seriously.

Hermione smiled in wonder at her Ravenclaw friend. "Thank you." she exclaimed fervently. "My feelings exactly."

Luna gave her an absent minded pat on the shoulder. "I'm glad. Now we should probably see why Ginny is crying. I wonder if the swarm of wrackspurts has returned."

Trying to keep herself from chuckling, Hermione looked up to see that Ginny was indeed sobbing on Parvati's shoulder. Immediately sobered, she asked in concern, "Ginny?" placing a consoling hand on her teary-eyed friend's shoulder.

"Parvati's right," Ginny wailed. "Marriage-law or not, people won't be accepting. MY MOTHER WILL BE FURIOUS!" She was now nearly hysterical. Sensing the need to intervene before this became a full-blown panic attack, Hermione's clever mind went into overdrive.

"Ginny, we can fix this. You and Harry are supposed to get married New Year's Eve right? Why don't you two go to Professor McGonagall and tell her that you don't want to wait any longer, and that you want to get married in a few weeks time? Everyone knows how in love you are, they won't find it out of the ordinary. It shouldn't be too much trouble either, seeing how much planning you've been doing for the course. Then when the baby comes, you can just tell people that you conceived during your honeymoon, again not out of the ordinary given this law's time line, and that the baby came early. You'll have to go to Madame Pomfrey now of course, but she's sworn to confidentiality so that won't be a problem. If you do start to show before the wedding which is highly unlikely, we can cast a couple of glammers to hide the signs. It'll all work out Gin, you'll see," she added softly, giving her friend a reassuring smile. Her words seemed to have had the desired effect on her friend, for her fanatical jabbering, along with its message, had lulled her friend into calming down, so much so that Ginny even flashed a good-natured smile when Parvati snickered and said,

"Yeah and if you hit the mood-swing stage, no one will find it abnormal!"

As Hermione watched Parvati guide a still slightly bemused Ginny off to inform Harry of their impending new-addition, she heaved a great sigh.

"You should take your own advice, Hermione." Luna said quietly. "It'll all work out. Don't forget that at the end of the day, you and Draco love one another. And isn't that what marriage and...all that comes with it are about?"

Hermione tried to keep that in mind later that night as Draco kissed her passionately, clearly not satisfied, in his stinking Quidditch gear which he then promptly discarded on the floor of their room before going out to hang out with Blaise and crack dirty jokes and jeer at people they disliked. Perspective. She had to keep it all in perspective, she thought as she saw a nervous, yet happy Harry lovingly stroking his pregnant wife's hair. Love was all you needed, right?


	15. Chapter 15

**A quick note on last chapter-**_**I guess I should have stated this last chapter in the A/N - I realize that people have varying opinions on marriage out of wedlock etc. The events in this story are plot devices only and in no way are meant to represent my opinion either way. This is why I also made sure to represent several views through the different characters . It does make sense to me that wizards would be old fashioned however, whether or not that opinion is right. That should cover it. :) Happy reading ! **_

**Real A/N-I just have to quickly express gratitude and amazement for breaking 200 followers. When I started writing, I never dreamt I'd reach 50 or a 100, let alone 200! I want to thank each and every one of you for taking enough interest and time out of your day to read my little fic. Each follow really does provide motivation. Often I'm short on inspiration or am tired, but I think of you all waiting and I write a chapter. So thank you, and also much thanks to those of you who favourite or review. But enough from me-here's the next chapter; enjoy! **

"WHERE'S MY BOUQUET? WHERE'S MY BOUQUET? SOMEONE TELL ME NOW WHERE MY BOUQUET IS OR ELSE I'll HEX THE NEXT PERSON I SEE SO BADLY THAT THEY'LL HAVE BAT BOOGERS POURING OUT OF THEIR NOSTRILS UNTIL NEXT CHRISTMAS!"

Ginny and Harry were getting married that day. As was probably obvious, Ginny was a nervous bride. The groom-to-be and the other men (his groomsmen interestingly enough,) had vacated the premises under the pretext of "going to get ready," when in reality, they just wanted to get away from Ginny before losing a limb. The bridesmaids had no such luck, and were doing their best to sedate Ginny in such a tactful way that they didn't put themselves in mortal danger. Between her nerves and her pregnancy hormones, she really was a ticking time bomb.

At long last, it was time for the ceremony, and it was with a sigh of relief that Hermione, the maid of honour, took her place next to Ron who naturally was seeing as the best man. At least now if Ginny went on a rampage, there were a hundred other guests which greatly improved her odds of not being hit.

As they walked up the aisle behind Parvati and Blaise to the tune being played by the musicianless violins stationed at each row of chairs up the aisle, Hermione couldn't help feeling great apprehension, not only for Ginny and Harry, but for herself. This was the first wedding. The Ministry was really going through with this. This was the final nail in the coffin so to speak.

Yet as she observed Harry and Ginny exchange their vows, all that she could feel was great happiness. Never before had she seen such expressions of love and joy. Harry looked as though he was looking at the most brilliant sight he had ever seen, and Ginny's nerves seemed to have dissipated, for she was radiant in her dress and in her happiness. Hermione knew then that they were going to be just fine, and that in fact, nothing could have made them happier than to be wed. She wondered if she would even come close to feeling that level of happiness when it was her turn.

Thanks to Ginny's and Harry's tireless planning and a lot of help and expertise from Mrs. Weasley, the reception was incredible. A large gold tent had been erected near the black lake. It had been enchanted to ward off bugs and to maintain a pleasant temperature. Floating candles floated above the lake, providing a mesmerising view. The most incredible part however, was the light in the tent itself, for it seemed to come from the canvas itself. It emitted a golden glow which created a cosy atmosphere and made everything and everyone look slightly surreal and mesmerising. At least, that's how Draco felt about Hermione. In her ruby red bridesmaid dress which brought out the chocolate warmth of her eyes and the blush in her cheeks, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She truly was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He felt the way he had when he had seen her at the Yule Ball. All that he had wanted to do was to take her onto the dance floor and snog her senseless, but he had been expected to hate her; to jeer and make cruel jokes at her expense. Now, he was expected to whirl her onto the dance floor; to dance the night away with her and tell her that he loved her. He needed no further prompting for that.

As he dragged her onto the dance floor and pulled her close, he murmured intimately into her ear.

"You are the most beautiful woman in the world. In that dress, you are even more of a goddess-like vision than usual." All the while, he revelled at the sensation of having her in his arms, knowing that she was his and he hers. This incredible woman was betrothed to him. The notion took his breath away.

Hermione too was in a daze, hers caused by his loving words. She never thought any man would say such things about her, and here Draco Malfoy was saying them. What's more, he seemed absolute in his sincerity. Even though they loved one-another, the oddity of their situation hit her occasionally. She simply struggled to get past their history sometimes. The day to day pattern of living together was wearing on her as well. It seemed to magnify all of the little mannerisms and habits Draco had that annoyed her. She was struggling to find a way to look past them and focus on the positive things, for there were many of them. With that in mind, Hermione pushed aside her many doubts and resolved to have a fun-filled, quality evening with her friends and her doting fiancée.

"Your not so bad yourself!" She grinned, reaching up on her tip-toes to give him a peck.

When the couples returned to their rooms in the wee hours of morning, they all made sure to find the energy to put up silencing charms around their respective rooms, since the ministry official had explained to them that due to the expedited nature of their program, the couples would not be going on their Ministry-funded honeymoon trip until the following summer. However, the blushing ministry official had explained that the couples who had married were to move on to the next phase of the program, baby making, and were therefore still responsible for accomplishing all that a honeymoon entailed. While Ginny and Harry were technically ahead of the game, none of their peers doubted that they were still going to go through the motions so to speak.

Ginny and Harry didn't come down for breakfast or lunch the following day (which elicited snickers and jokes that shall not be repeated from Theo and Blaise) but they were at dinner, and Ginny made sure to sit by Hermione so that the two could catch up.

After squealing and gushing about the ceremony and the party the night before, Hermione took a moment and really studied her newly-wed best girlfriend.

"You know Gin, you really are glowing," she commented.

"It's funny you should say that," Ginny replied. "That's exactly how I feel. There's just something about knowing that Harry is _mine, _that there's a certificate and a magical bond to prove it, that feels so incredible. It's awe-inspiring and so comforting to know that I now have a life-partner who will be with me through all the challenges that life is sure to throw my way. Its made our love even stronger than before, which I didn't think possible. Plus it doesn't hurt to know I can jump him any time I please!" She giggled, imitating Parvati's usual eyebrow waggle.

Hermione chuckled at that, but inwardly was processing Ginny's words very seriously. Somehow, having this insight from a friend who could now speak from experience gave a whole new perspective, and one that she felt she could trust. She thought about how much she loved Harry and Ron, even though they drove her up the wall. Yet she still loved them unconditionally, and saw past their annoying habits. Shouldn't the same logic apply to Draco? Besides, she was sure that she had qualities that he disliked. But wasn't that what marriage was about? Loving and supporting each other in spite of those differences; and working to overcome them because the love was strong enough to overcome any amount of negativity? Having someone you could count on through thick and thin, because they loved you? No one said that marriage was easy, but as Hermione thought about it, she realised that Draco had certainly proved that he was up to the challenge. As she reflected, she came to the realisation that lately, it hadn't been him who wasn't ready, but her. Well she was now. In fact, as she told him later after a passionate kiss,

"I can't wait."


	16. Chapter 16

The weeks leading up to Hermione and Draco's wedding seemed to be flying by. Christmas, which had been extremely eventful, had come and gone. Draco and Hermione had spent the week leading up to Christmas and Christmas Eve at Hermione's house. There, Draco had gotten to know her family and they had informed her parents of their impending marriage. Naturally, they had at first been abhorred at the fact that their daughter had been forced into an arranged marriage, and to a boy they knew had bullied her all through their schooling. Thankfully, they didn't know the full extent of Draco's dark past. (Hermione had never told them of the wizarding war.) They calmed down when they realised that believe it or not, their daughter seemed more than happy with her match. The thing was, it was apparent to everyone that Draco and Hermione were in love. After that, the Grangers and Draco divided their week between taking Draco to experience Muggle holiday traditions and working on the wedding.

On Christmas Eve, the family went to midnight mass and, upon coming home, sat around the fireplace (which Hermione's parents had been all too happy to let her magically procur a fire within.) Mugs of cocoa in hand, they exchanged presents. Hermione couldn't help feeling disappointed when she opened her parcel from Draco and found several books which she had been wanting. While she was certainly grateful that he had taken the time to pick out the books he knew she had been itching to read, she hadn't been able to stop herself from raising her expectations of getting an über romantic gift from him. She had given him a gift that she knew he would appreciate both for what it was as well as for the effort it had taken for her to give to him. Inside a card addressed "For my Love," she had placed a gift certificate for a lingerie shop. She had penned a note saying, "Pick out what you would like to see me wear on our wedding night." It had been difficult for her to buy such a thing, knowing how she was about intimacy at the moment. Fortunately, Draco recognised what a major step this had been for her. This, combined with her inability to complete mask her disappointment at his gift for her, caused him to chuckle privately knowing what he had in store for her.

Later, when they had some privacy, he procured a small box which he presented her.

"What's this?" She asked curiously.

"The rest of your gift," he grinned eagerly.

Opening it excitedly, she gasped when she saw what was inside. There lay a pair of beautiful earrings.

"They're a family heirloom," Draco explained softly. "Meant to be given to a bride from her husband on their wedding day. I didn't want to wait."

"They're absolutely stunning!" Hermione gushed. "But...are they green or red?" She inquired, brow puckered in confusion.

Draco laughed. "Being a Slytherin family heirloom, they are, of course, emeralds. I charmed them however, to reflect our unity. They are neither red nor green, yet both at the same time—just like us," he finished softly, staring at her like someone seeing the sun for the first time. Hermione felt tears well in her eyes as she leaned up and kissed him.

Following Hermione's Christmas tradition, they then went to the Weasleys for Christmas Day. It was a bit awkward this year, given how Ron and Hermione had not yet resolved their differences. Fortunately, Astoria was spending the holiday as well, because once she and Ron had discovered how horny the other was, they suddenly began getting along quite well, having found common ground. Everyone else was grateful that they constantly had a reason to demand that the couple "get a room." The Weasleys may have been one of the most accepting families around, but even they could only stomach so much of Astoria's presence.

As soon as Hermione and Draco had arrived, Draco had immediately given a heart-felt apology to all of the Weasleys for the way he had behaved in past years. That, along with testimonials from Harry and Ginny had been enough and Draco had slowly begun to build relationships with the other resident-red-heads. The rest of the holiday had past in a happy blur filled with snowball fights, Mrs. Weasley's delicious cooking, and plenty of laughter. Any spare time was spent furiously making wedding arrangements. All too soon, it was time to return to Hogwarts with a little over a month until the wedding.

That month flew by. Draco and Hermione were overwhelmed with trying to make everything perfect for their big day. Right in the middle of it all was Theo's marriage to Luna. As usual with Luna, it was incredibly unusual, albeit beautiful. Luna wore a bright yellow dress, and there were sunflowers everywhere. Theo looked dashing in his tuxedo—and appeaeed to be in a happy daze as he watched Luna waltz up the aisle. There was a collective gasp when Theo unabashedly initiated a passionate kiss when the presiding Ministry official stated that he may kiss the bride. It was clear that this offbeat couple would live happily ever after.

Two weeks later, it was Hermione's and Draco's turn. McGonagall had arranged to have a special potion prepared that would allow Hermjone's parents to be able to see through the glamours around Hogwarts. They had taken a portkey and had arrived to be greeted by Hermione with a bucket and some aspirin. Once they had recovered from their rocky arrival, they had immediately thrown themselves at Hermione, and then into preparations. Her father had volunteered to go see if he could be of any help in last minute preparations in the hall, though Hermione secretly suspected that he just wanted to see if he could catch any magic being performed, and her mother accompanied her to get her ready.

Getting Hermione ready turned out to be quite a feat. Her mother, Parvati, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley all had different opinions on how her hair and makeup should be styled. Finally, Luna set everything right in her quiet, perceptive way. All she did was quietly ask Hermione what she thought, yet it brought the other four women up short. Abruptly, they all burst out laughing.

"Very true Luna, I guess Hermione's opinion matters too!" Molly laughed.

"Yes my dear, what do you want done?" Her mother asked her, looking at her fondly through teary eyes.

"You know I'm no expert on this stuff, but I would like simple but elegant. Just don't forget to use plenty of de-frizzer on my hair!" She laughed.

At that, they all descended on her in a storm, but somehow, they complimented each other instead of getting in one-another's way. Parvati set to work on her makeup, Ginny wrestled with her hair, Luna secured her jewelry and garter, her mother sat holding her hand and chatted with her to soothe her nerves, and in a stroke of genius, Mrs. Weasley performed anti-sweating charms on Hermione, and anti-wilting charms on her bouquet. When they were done, Hermione donned a half-up half down hairdo that was sleek and shiny. The part that had been swept up was held together by combs inlaid with crystals and pearls. The free-falling pieces were in ringlets. Her makeup was extremely subtle, capturing her best features and enhancing them, and somehow seemed to hint at the silver pattern that covered her dress. She looked absolutely stunning. When Ginny held up a mirror so that she could see herself, the sight took Hermione's breath away.

This was her? She had never felt so beautiful in her whole life. The Yule Ball didn't hold a candle to this. She looked like a _bride_. The overwhelming sentiment however, was that she couldn't wait to show Draco. Looking up at the most important women in her life, she thanked them profusely.

They had her ready in record time, and a very good thing that was, because it was time to begin. Hermione stood up carefully, mindful of the fact that her legs felt as though they had turned to jelly. When she exited the room they had been getting ready in, she found her father waiting for her. Embracing her mother and her friends, she watched them hurry off to take their places at the top of the stairs descending into the entryway where the wedding procession would begin. (They had rearranged the Great Hall, where the wedding would take place.) When they had disappeared around the corner, she turned to her father and asked,

"Are you ready?"

"Are you?" He replied seriously.

"Actually, I think I am!" She said with a nervous smile. "Scared out of my mind, but ready."

"Then we're off!" Her father replied. "I love you Hermione," he added. "And so does that boy, I can tell."

Giving her father a hug and a watery smile and privately thanking Mrs. Weasley for her quick thinking charm work, Hermione began walking arm in arm with her father to the staircase. This was it. She was getting married.

_**Ouuuuu...;)**_


	17. Chapter 17

Hermione felt as though she were in some surreal world as she walked down the aisle, firmly clenching her father's arm to keep her steady. She felt both light-headed and nauseous from nerves and anxiety. Life as she knew it would be over in a few precious moments. When she walked back down this aisle, she would be married to Draco Malfoy. At that moment, she caught sight of Draco and felt heat flush her cheeks and warm the pit of her stomach. Their eyes met and she realised with a rush that her feelings were mirrored in his eyes. Once again, he had not abandoned her. They would get through this together, much in the same way that they would be there for each other over the course of their life together. Abruptly, the aisle, which had felt all to short to Hermione, seemed never-ending as she tried to reach her love. Then she was there, her father was placing her hand in Draco's, and Hermione was home, lost in his grey-blue eyes which were trained on her face drinking it in, a huge smile on his face.

Hermione didn't hear much of the ceremony, nor the speeches or the Ministry official's words as he droned on and on. Her concentration was entirely focused on Draco's (her soon to be husband's!) warm hand enveloping hers, his thumb stroking hers. Then it was time for their unity ceremony. Instead of the muggle candle tradition, they mixed sand. The idea had actually been Draco's. He had been inspired by Hermione mentioning the candle lighting tradition and had tailored it to represent their relationship. His sand was black and hers was white. The colours mixed together in intricate patterns that would be unique to them no matter how many other people did it. Dark and light, mixing to form something beautiful. She couldn't stop crying as she did it, so overcome was she with happiness, which made her cry even more out of guilt for all of her doubt. It felt completely cathartic and when they were done all that she wanted to do was say the two magic words, "I do."

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long, and when she said the words she began crying all over again, spurred on by the fact that tears of joy welled in Draco's eyes as she vowed her undying love to him. When the Ministry official announced that he may kiss his bride, Draco all but yanked Hermioen to him as he dove in to kiss her, _his wife, _in earnest. Never before had he been so happy. Never before had he felt that he deserved happiness, but now with Hermione, he realised that he did, because when she broke apart and looked up at him in utter contentment, he realised that he made her happy, that he complete her. And that told Draco that for once, he was finally doing something right. Impulsively, he leaned down and kissed her again to happy titters from the onlookers. As they walked hand-in-hand down the aisle as a married couple, it crossed many people's minds how they were witnessing something that a year ago would simply never have crossed anyone's mind; the concept would have been beyond absurd, almost indescribable in its unlikeliness. Yet here Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were, walking down the aisle as man and wife, smiles a mile wide and clearly very much in love.

The wedding reception afterwards was a wonderful celebration of that love. Everyone roared with laughter when Parvati caught the bouquet and Blaise the garter—fitting, given that they were to be wed ten days from now. The reception was awe-inspiring. Hermione and Draco had opted to have their reception in the newly repaired Room of Requirement, and it had gloriously risen to the occasion. It had stretched to an ideal size—big enough to be spacious and not cramped, but not too big to lose its intimacy. Plates of food whisked themselves around on silver platters accompanied by golden goblets filled with spirits. The floor looked like sand and the walls looked like a stretch of ocean, giving that wonderfully exhilarating feeling that you get when you stand at the beach and look out across the ocean feeling as though you were really at the end of the earth. Draco and Hermione had chosen this theme in honour of the honeymoon they couldn't presently have. The music was a mix of Hermione's favourite muggle jams and Draco's favourite wizarding tunes, both of which kept the guests on their feet when they weren't congratulating the happy couple and telling them how fantastic they looked. While the newly-wed couple was having a great time, they were both also eager to leave and begin the next step. Hermione was feeling quite nervous though, and given Draco's history why wouldn't she be? How high of standards did she have to live up to? Sensing this, her mother pulled her aside to have one of those terribly awkward conversations that parents insist on putting their kids through that in the end, are extremely useful.

"Hermione dear, I know that you're feeling very nervous. Without going into gory details, I'm just going to say this: whatever he may have done in the past, just keep in mind that Draco will be with you tonight because he loves you. It's very different, and it will never be able to compare with anything he's done before. Now. Let's talk about something else...like how beautiful you looked today! Oh my, I couldn't stop crying, I soaked through both of your father's handkerchiefs!"

Just like that, her mother was off on another subject, crying again, and though Hermione chatted with her normally, she was busy processing what her mother had told her.

Soon enough, it was time to put her mother's theory to the test. Hermione and Draco found themselves alone in their room. Their friends had made a big show of casting _muffliato _charms over it as Draco carried her over the threshold_. _"Well. This has been an eventful day!" Draco joked. "And the happiest one of my life," he added softly, looking at her with that look of utter happiness, the deepest kind, that he had had when she'd met him at the altar. As he was saying all of this, his hands had been busy unzipping the back of her dress, pushing it down her shoulders, until she stood before him in the lingerie he had chosen using her Christmas gift. His selection surprised her—a black, modest, lacy dress type thing that fell just below her hips. It emphasised all of her assets but didn't overtly show them. Even so, Hermione felt heat flood her cheeks and she said, "Give me a minute okay," rushing to their bathroom as she said so. Once there, she splashed cold water over her cheeks and tried to regain control. Her mother's words echoed in her mind, and she pondered them. Suddenly, her mind was full of images and memories of Draco—the glowing way he looked at her whenever she entered a room, his face as they exchanged vows, all of the messages he had sent her as her "Secret Admirer," his thumb stroking her hand as they held hands waiting to be married...when she thought about all of that, and how utterly happy he made her, she realised that this next step was utterly right and felt completely natural. When she emerged from the washroom, she was wearing only the earrings that he had given her on Christmas Eve, sparkling with their symbolic ambiguity. Draco's eyes widened in surprise and his huge smile expressed appreciation. Something else did too, making her blush. Heat burned in the pit of her belly which tightened in happiness as when he came up to her, his eyes and hands lingered only on her face, caressing it, as though it were the most precious thing in the world. "You are so beautiful," he murmured, "I'm so lucky."

"As am I," she replied. This time it was she who took charge of the undressing, ensuring that he became as exposed as she. With that, they began the intimate dance that was the final step of exposing themselves to the other, as well as of expressing their deep love. And as Gryffindor and Slytherin became one, it did not cross their minds for an instant how this would never have happened six months ago, because now, it felt so right.

**Hope I adhered to the rating. ;) Gosh I'm so happy that they're finally at this stage, its been quite a rocky journey! I'm trying to decide how much detail/how many chapters to include between now and the pregnancy/baby because really, it'd either have to be everyday boring or arguments they have now that they're married, and really, I don't want to make them argue more. :/ if you have any ideas, please do share—review, review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Yep. I know. It's been a while. I apologise for the delay. I'm starting university this year and ended up having to move a while before previously planned which resulted in mass panic and crazy packing in my household. On top of that, I had 5 pieces that had to be written by the today for my Fanfiction competitions. Those are my excuses but I really did feel bad the whole time and am so happy to *finally!* be able to share this chapter with you. I finally know the direction I want to go with this, thank you so much for all of your suggestions they convinced me not to just write an epilogue so I will be continuing with more chapters! Updates will not be as frequent once school starts but they hopefully won't be as long a wait as this one was. Thank you again for your patience and your everlasting support. :) **

**Creds to JK Rowling. Thanks for creating a major part of my childhood. **

"Hermione love, we really need to get going," Draco called from their room.

"I'll be out in a minute!" Hermione called back from the bathroom. "Or three," she corrected mentally as she stared at the pregnancy test.

Draco didn't know that she took one every morning. She knew that the result was inevitable, whether or not it be today or a month down the road and that Madame Pomfrey did weekly tests, but still, she had to check for herself every day just in case—

"Draco could you come here please?" she asked as calmly as possible.

"Come on love. You know better than anyone that I'm always up for having sex with you but is it really practical to do it now when we need to get to class in five minutes? You'd never get over it if we were late," he replied jokingly from the other side of the door.

"I need to get to the hospital wing," Hermione said faintly.

Draco had barged in in seconds, his eyes blazing with worry. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? What happened?" he cried.

In answer, Hermione held up the pregnancy test which had turned blue not a moment ago.

xxxxx

Draco paced back and forth between the door of the hospital wing and the nearest bed for the twentieth time. Ever since Hermione had held up that blue test strip he hadn't been able to sit still. He had rushed her to Madame Pomfrey ignoring her indignant protests of "Really Draco I'm perfectly okay to walk by myself!" All that had been left to do after that was wait for her to finish her consultation with the matron. He had felt nauseous the entire time. He didn't know why he was taking the news so hard, it wasn't as though he was ill prepared. He and Hermione had been having sex on a regular basis and following the rules of the Marriage Law, hadn't been using contraception. It was bound to happen. It had to happen. But maybe because of wishful thinking, Draco had hoped that it wouldn't happen so soon. He felt completely ill prepared and ill-equipped to handle the situation. He wasn't parent-material. If he was being completely honest, he was also a bit annoyed and felt slightly betrayed by Hermione. Why hadn't she told him that she was doing her own pregnancy tests on a regular basis? Wasn't he a fifty percent player in this whole thing? Why would she keep that from him? It was his child too. A chill overtook Draco as a terrible thought came to him. Did she feel the same way about him being the father as he did?

"You can come in now Mr. Malfoy."

Madame Pomfrey's kind but no-nonsense voice interrupted Draco's ruminations. He nodded at her but was unable to speak a word of thanks. Like his stomach, his tongue seemed to be in knots. Hermione shot him a weak smile when he entered her curtained-off bed area. He couldn't help studying her stomach to see if a baby bump was forming, silly as it was. Following his gaze Hermione chuckled and said,

"I'm not showing yet though I suspect that in a few months I'll be enormous."

Smoothing his face into what he hoped was a relaxed expression he took her hand and soothed, "I have no doubt that you will be as gorgeous as ever."

Smiling happily Hermione replied, "That's very kind of you but we really do need to talk. How do you feel?"

Draco couldn't help it. He didn't want to be dishonest and quite frankly, he was just angry. Letting go of her hand he turned away and said,

"I'm fine," in an icy voice that indicated that he was anything but.

"Draco," she whispered.

"What?" he snapped, abruptly enraged. He knew that his temper was getting the best of him but he did nothing to reign it in. Right now all of his hurt and anxiousness was pinpointed on her, whether merited or not. "Do you expect me to be thrilled; over the moon that you hid things from me, that you didn't think I was an integral part of this?"

"Oh sweetheart you know that's not why I didn't tell you. I didn't think it was important for you to know. I mean you're with me at our weekly check up with Madame Pomfrey. Quite honestly I was embarrassed about how obsessively I've been testing. I never meant for you to be left out. I want and I _need _you to be an integral part of our child's life. I'm sure you know that. Are you sure that's what's really bothering you?"

Deep down Draco knew that she was right but all he could muster was, "Our child eh?" Hermione smiled adoringly at him before whispering,

"It's incredible isn't it?"

Grabbing her hand again, Draco began tracing patterns on it while he spoke nervously.

"I want to think it's incredible, really! But all that I feel is sadness and nervousness and terrible fear! I don't want to be like my father."

"Oh Draco you won't be!" Hermione said passionately. "You think you're like him because in the past you were following in his path but you have made your own way! Do you think that I could have fallen madly in love with you if you were like your father? Do you think you could have loved me? Our relationship was awful at first because you were acting like him but you overcame it and look at us now. I, Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor and a muggleborn sit here pregnant with your child and am proud of it."

Draco felt overcome with warmth. She had understood his fears and known exactly what to say. Becoming a parent still seemed absolutely terrifying but it was no longer because of his issues with his own father.

"I couldn't be more happy that you will be the mother of my child," he smiled lovingly at his incredible wife. "Let's just hope that he or she inherits my hair!" he laughed as he ducked the pillow she threw at him.

xxxxx

When they had returned to their pod hand-in-hand, Hermione wasted no time in calling everyone to attention and saying, "We have an announcement to make."

"Let me guess, you guys got married," Blaise joked. Hermione gave him a scathing look while everyone else laughed at either Blaise's look or at Parvati rolling her eyes at her new husband. They all soon turned their attention back to a very nervous Hermione.

"We uh...we...we uh...Draco and I, we..."

"We're pregnant!" Draco finally burst in. "I mean Hermione is pregnant. I'm certainly not...but you all know that...obviously Hermione's the one who's actually _having _the baby I mean..."

"OH WHO CARES who's actually popping the little guy out!" cried Ginny Weasley who was looking quite pregnant herself.

"Ya congratulations!" Ron Weasley cut in. Everyone who had been chattering excitedly about the latest baby announcement grew quiet as they waited to watch the scene unfold.


	19. Chapter 19

**I am still alive. And miraculously, many of you are still following this story! Thank you so much, and thank you for your patience! While I did warn that updates would be more infrequent, I honestly did not think that it would be to this extent. However, I now know that they weren't kidding about how hectic university is, and between that and my job I just haven't had the time. Please take comfort in the fact that I didn't have time for many things including reading for fun or even for watching Netflix. What I will do is write several chapters ahead over break but save updates for this semester so that you won't be in the dark as long this time. I also decided to tie up a few loose ends this chapter and not leave another cliffy. I hope that that helps and that you like it. Thank you once again for sticking with me and again, I truly apologize. Now enough from me, I've already kept you waiting much too long! xoxo ~fan**

"Thank you Ronald," Hermione said politely albeit stiffly.

An awkward silence settled over the room that was thankfully broken by Blaise saying, "Well at least if all else fails you two have a name to fall back on!"

Wrinkling her nose, Ginny said, "I hope you aren't suggesting that they name their kid Zabini, that sounds way too much like Zucchini."

"Ha. Ha. You're hilarious Weaslette," Blaise pretended to be wounded. I meant Blaise, not that anyone asked your opinion." He elbowed her gently in the side as he spoke to soften his harsh words.

"What if it's a girl?" Ginny asked, eyebrow raised. As usual, she seemed completely unphased by the teasing, the fact that she had grown up with six brothers incredibly apparent in that moment. "What's your solution for that O Genius One?"

"Well I hope your solution isn't Ginny," Blaise mimicked her in a lightly mocking fashion. "Sounds way too much like dummy!"

Ever good natured, Ginny joined in the laughter that filled the room at Blaise's words. Hermione was struck by the way in which they were all interacting; how different it was from their exchanges just a few months ago. There was no other word to describe what was before her other than "friendship." When the laughter had died down some, Harry interjected saying, "You better watch yourself now Zabini, if I know my wife then she'll be getting you back somehow!"

Hermione smiled at how Harry's voice seemed to caress the word 'wife,' how his eyes shone as he said it. It was clear that he loved Ginny every bit as much now as he once had. Just like she loved Draco, she thought as she caught his eye and grinned at him feeling her stomach flip at his intense beaming gaze. He, her husband was so beautiful and he was all hers...For the second time that afternoon, she was jerked from her thoughts which this time had taken a distinctly more inappropriate turn by Ron Weasley's voice which was addressing her once more.

"If it's a girl you're gonna name her Rose right?"

"How do you know that?" Hermione gasped, distinctly aware of how the room had once again grown silent and everyone was watching their exchange closely.

"You told me, remember?" Ron said softly.

"I did, I just didn't expect you to remember," Hermione stuttered, blushing as the memory surfaced. They had been talking about the future, in theoretical terms about what would happen if they got married. She realized now that Ron had taken that talk much more seriously than she had. She was surprised to feel her stomach curl in guilt. Maybe she had been too hard on him...

"Of course I remember," Ron replied, he too blushing as he had never been one for emotional confessions. "You're one of my best friends."

Not knowing how to respond and feeling incredibly put on the spot, Hermione turned and fled the room.

Draco found her in the library, and he had to smile at the predictability of it. She didn't earn her nickname for nothing, he chuckled to himself as he gazed at her endearingly. He frowned however, when he saw that she wasn't reading but instead sitting with her chin in her hands, staring listlessly at the shelf of books in front of her.

"What's wrong Love?" He asked as he took a seat next to her and gently took one of her hands. "Something is clearly on your mind, it's too early to begin blaming the hormones!" He joked, hoping to lighten the mood.

Unfortunately, his attempt was unsuccessful, and Hermione didn't even acknowledge his words for several moments until at last she simply said, "Ron."

"Ah yes, that bugger," Draco said knowingly, though surprisingly without even a hint of malice.  
Nevertheless, Hermione slapped his arm and scolded him. "Draco!" She couldn't quite mask the laugh in her voice. Draco breathed a sigh of relief, having been unsure of just how much damage there would be to repair.

"Just testing," he said. Hermione's brow furrowed in confusion. "Testing what?" She questioned. "Whether or not you still care about him," Draco replied bluntly, not being one to beat around the bush. "Of course I care!" Hermione exclaimed in agitation. "Nevertheless, he was still a bloody jerk and I just don't know if I can forgive what he did."

"He was definitively a jerk," Draco agreed. "However, I have learned from my own experiences that pain can make us do terrible things, and I suspect whether or not you realize it, you may have done some things that your friend Weasel might describe as awful." Instead of blowing up at him as he had expected, Hermione simply examined him thoughtfully, seeming to have taken his words to heart and considering them carefully. Seizing the opportunity to add one more consideration to the many that lay before her, Draco added, "Besides, you're an incredibly forgiving person, I'm sure you'll find it in you if my experience is anything to go by. After all, I can think of another case where you forgave someone who had treated you in a despicable manner and who deserved none of the kindness you showered on him regardless." Winking at her, Draco then got up and with a quick peck, left his wife to ponder his words.

"Could I talk to you for a minute?" Hermione asked in barely a whisper, bracing herself for the response.

"Of course!" Ron replied, jumping up in delight, hardly believing that she was indeed talking to him.  
Wordlessly, Hermione turned and exited the pod, hoping that he would follow her. They walked in silence down the hallway and several flights of stairs, through the majestic entrance hall, out the enormous front doors and out onto the grounds toward the Great Lake. When he could no longer bear the silence, Ron burst forth with, "I'm sorry!" Hermione stopped in her tracks and fixed him with a piercing stare. Finally, she spoke. "I know," she said. "And so am I."

Somehow, that was all that needed to be said. The past few months of pain and tension seemed to melt away and as the two friends hugged, both could feel that something imperceptible had changed. For while this cycle of fighting and easy make-ups had always been their way, the tension that exists between two people who like each other but who won't admit it was gone and both felt that maybe, just maybe, this peace might be more long-lasting.

"So." Ron said when they had resumed walking, though this time in a much more comfortable fashion, "Draco Malloy eh?"

"That's nothing new," Hermione laughed. "Try Hermione Malfoy!" Ron roared with laughter and with that, the two began to talk one-another's ear off, making up for lost time.

"I don't have any competition now do I?" Draco joked later after Hermione had thanked him several times for his help and had told him about her joyful reunion with Ron.  
"I should think not," Hermione said coyly as she sat on his lap and began to unbutton his shirt. "Definitely not."


	20. Chapter 20

**Here's the next update! I wrote this one the day after I posted the last one and had to use every ounce of self-restraint to stop myself from posting it right away, because sure enough, I haven't had time to write one since. Hopefully posting this now will ease the wait for the next one. Thank you again for keeping with me—and for bringing the follow count to almost 300! WOW! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I value each and every one of you and hope that you enjoy this latest update.**

**Cheers,**

**Fan**

"It's okay. You're going to be alright," Draco soothed as he swept Hermione's hair away from her face to keep it from falling into the toilet along with, it appeared, her supper from the day before.

"Get out of here," Hermione croaked out. "You don't need to see this!" She shoved at him in a weak attempt to get him to leave.

"I'm not going anywhere," Draco said firmly. "We're a team. It's already unfair that we're both going to be blessed with this child yet only you are suffering from this bloody morning sickness thing!"

Hermione didn't correct him, but privately she knew that this wasn't morning sickness. She had (fortunately) stopped suffering from that the month before. What was ailing her right now was stress-induced sickness, but she didn't want to tell Draco that, he was already stressed enough as it was she could tell. Lucius Malfoy had been sending him letter after letter berating him for poisoning the purity of the Malfoy line with Hermione's pregnancy. Though Lucius could not harm them from his cell in Azkaban, he was still clearly doing everything in his power to try and make their lives miserable for their alleged treachery. Though Draco tried to hide his dismay, it was clear on his face to Hermione who could now read his emotions from the twitch of an eyebrow to a frown line that disappeared as quickly as it came. In an effort to help him in the only way that she could given the situation, she kept her own stresses to herself. Their final exams were only two months away for heaven's sake! The other girls were taking the opportunity offered to them by the Ministry to take an extension and to write their exams at the end of the summer, but that simply wouldn't do for Hermione. She both wanted the distraction and the satisfaction that taking her exams at their standard time would provide, and besides, it was her last defiance of the Ministry for imposing the Marriage Law. Despite the fact that she was now thrilled to be with Draco and recognized that without the law she wouldn't be, she still found it barbaric that this all had been imposed on them and wanted to maintain this one element of normalcy; to have something that wouldn't be impacted by the law.

So, she had buried herself behind a pile of books and rolls of parchment, studying late into the night and between classes. She had renewed her habit of spending many of her waking hours in the library much to the bemusement of Harry and Ron and to the chagrin of Draco who missed spending more time with her. Of course, he wasn't going to argue with his hormonal and determined wife, opting to take the "whatever makes her happy and keeps her sane," approach. Yet strangely, Hermione felt neither happy nor sane. She was beginning to realize that she had underestimated just how difficult it would be to study, maintain her impeccable grades, go to all of her medical appointments with Madame Pomfrey, to the Marriage Law course with Draco, and to still find time to eat, sleep, and hang out with her friends and husband. Slowly, she felt herself slipping into a frenzied panic which she did her very best to mask. She pushed her food around on her plate when her appetite went, snuck their bedroom to the pod's common area to catch up on study during the wee hours of the morning, and tried to keep a smile on her face that felt more and more like a grimace every day. Most people would have admitted defeat by this point, but Hermione wasn't known for her stubbornness for nothing. She couldn't quite articulate why even to herself, but she simply couldn't give up. She had to write those exams in June!

All of this stress had come to a head this week. It was the last week of March, and Easter was just around the corner. Draco and Hermione were planning on spending the long weekend with Hermione's parents, and Hermione had been determined to not only keep up with her work, but to get ahead so that she could enjoy her visit with her family without worrying about getting behind. The self-added stress had culminated in her breaking point, and it was that that had caused her to find herself kneeling on the tiled floor of their bathroom.

"That was a particularly bad one, Love. Maybe you should take the morning off and rest. It isn't as though you'll miss anything in Transfiguration, it's your best subject," Draco suggested.

"You know I can't do that Draco! What would McGonagall think? Besides, I think that my wand movement isn't quite right for animal transfigurations, I really need to practice, I don't want to fail!" Hermione snapped sounding unintentionally harsh as well as panicked. Without thinking, she added, "You may not care about failing but I do, I'm not lazy unlike some!" Immediately regretting her words, her face crumpled and she sobbed, "Oh listen to me, failing in yet another way. I'm so sorry Draco, you know I didn't mean that."

Draco easily laughed it off, saying, "Those bloody raging baby hormones eh? Don't worry about it love. We all have those moments, and you at least have an extremely viable excuse!" He grinned at her, leaning in and planting a kiss on her forehead, giving her mouth a wide berth but whispering in her ear, "Come and find me when you brush your teeth so I can finish comforting you, what do you say?" Winking at her, he left to give her privacy while she cleaned up.

Normally, Draco's suggestion would set Hermione's stomach aflutter, but this morning it only caused her knotted nerves to tighten painfully at the thought of putting effort into appearing unbothered and happy. Or maybe that was just more of her sickness, she was beginning to find it difficult to differentiate….

Standing, she took a deep breath, attempting to calm her pounding head and nauseous stomach. After brushing her teeth, she splashed cold water on her face and took several more steadying breaths. Leaving the bathroom, she quickly went to her desk and grabbed her school books, going out of her way to avoid Draco's gaze.

"Shall we head down to breakfast Love?" he asked her.

"You go on ahead, my stomach is still very upset, I'm not sure I could handle the sight of all of that food!" she said forcing a laugh.

Chuckling along with her easily, he responded, "Fair enough. I'll bring you a piece of toast to class. I'd better head out now. Take care and I'll see you in a bit! I love you," he added, and Hermione couldn't help but smile at the shy way in which he said those words to this day.

When Hermione reached the classroom, Draco was already there, chatting away with Harry and Ron. She wasn't sure if that was a sight that she'd ever get used to, no matter how old she got. She would venture to say that Draco and Harry were friends. Ron and Draco got along without displaying any animosity, but they had yet to entirely warm up to each other. Still, they had come farther than anyone would have ever thought. When Draco looked up and saw her, he excused himself and brought over the piece of toast he had taken from the Great Hall for her. Accepting it out of politeness more than anything, Hermione took it to her seat and set it on the desk. She was feeling quite light headed and knew instinctively that she should try to eat the piece of bread, but she wasn't sure if her stomach could handle it. When Draco wasn't looking, she quickly transfigured the toast into a stone which she slid into her pocket before he could see. At that moment, McGonagall arrived signaling the beginning of class and Draco took his seat next to her. "Thanks for the toast," she whispered to him as McGonagall tapped the blackboard making the lesson plan appear. "Of course!" he replied.

"Today we will focus on transfiguring large objects into animals," McGonagall announced, causing the class to chatter excitedly before the professor silenced them with her trademark stern glare. She then instructed them to practice with their desks. Hermione struggled quite a bit. There was a buzzing in her ears and her arm felt like lead as she waved it. She was grateful that they were practicing with their individual desks instead of in partners so that she could avoid Draco's worried stare. Her relief was shattered when McGonagall informed them that they would demonstrate one by one their progress with her big professor's desk. When it was her turn, she trudged up slowly, staggering at one point from the nerves. Or was it her sickness? The front of the class seemed to stay miles away despite her steady progress up toward the front. It almost seemed as though it was at the end of a long tunnel which was filled with light and shifting in and out of focus. The appearance was enhanced by the echoing quality of McGonagall's voice as she inquired as to whether or not Hermione was okay. Hermione tried to respond but before she could, she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness. She never heard the shouts of worry and surprise, nor did she see Draco lunge for her, or feel his arms encircle her as he tried to break her fall.


	21. Chapter 21

**300+ followers! Wow! Thank you so much! I can't describe how much it means to me. This story has become very important to me and it is so gratifying to know that so many people are enjoying it. Thank you to each and every one of you and I hope that you enjoy this latest installment. See you at the bottom! ~fan**

Hermione sat up with a start, staring around wildly as she tried to get her bearings. All that her disoriented eyes could register was a blur of stark white marred only by a brief flash of white that was a few shades _blonder… _"Draco!?" Hermione gasped clinging to the hand that she had only just become aware of that was gripping her arm, its thumb rubbing soothing circles. She held on as though her life depended on it, needing the stability and the comfort that her husband offered desperately.

"Shh, shh, you're okay. Everything's okay. You're okay. Everything's okay," Draco whispered over and over in a soothing mantra that slowly lulled Hermione into a state of relaxation, her shoulders sinking back into the pillows until,

"THE BABY! IS THE BABY OKAY?" She bolted to a sitting position once more, panic seizing her like a vice. Her hands instinctively flew to her stomach and her terror was only momentarily assuaged by the knowledge that there was still a defined bump where her stomach had once been flat.

"The baby is okay," Madame Pomfrey said in her no nonsense way as she appeared at Hermione's side with a beaker in hand. "Fortunately for you, no harm was done. But I should warn you, Ms. Granger…err, Mrs. Malfoy, that if you don't start to take better care of yourself, things might turn out differently."

"I understand, thank you," Hermione whispered.

Madame Pomfrey's face broke into a kind smile. Patting Hermione on the shoulder, she said, "You're a smart girl. I know that you'll figure it out. Now drink this and then get some rest. I want you to stay the night and if all goes well, you can leave in the morning."

After the mediwitch had left them to tend to another patient, Hermione turned to Draco and, without meeting his gaze, quietly said, "Could you go now please?"

"What?" Draco asked, entirely confused.

"I said, could you go now please," Hermione said more firmly.

"But why? What's wrong Love?" There was no denying that Draco's tone was now tinged with hurt.

"I just want to be alone for a while okay! Is that so hard to understand? I don't want you here, I feel like you're smothering me!" Hermione burst out.

"Hermione—" Draco began softly.

"Go! Just—just go!" Without another word, Hermione turned away from him onto her side. After a few moments, she heard him get up and leave. Only then did she allow herself to sob.

xxxxx

The next morning, after a final checkup from Madame Pomfrey, Hermione was free to leave the hospital wing. When she stepped out from behind the examination curtain she was greeted by Ginny and Parvati who both rushed over to give her a big hug. "We were so worried about you!" Ginny cried. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine thanks Gin. No permanent damage," Hermione replied trying her very best to sound cheerful.

"More importantly, how's the baby?" Parvati interjected.

"The baby is fine," Hermione snapped. "Why wouldn't it be?" She quickened her pace as she said this to try and put some distance between them so as not see the look that she was certain her two friends were exchanging. It then dawned on her that someone was missing.

"Where's Draco?" she asked. "Why didn't he come to pick me up? Does he have class now?"

"No," Ginny began carefully. "He simply suggested that we come to get you. He seemed to think that you would prefer that."

"Is everything okay between you two?" Parvati asked bravely, though she looked nervous when Hermione began to speak as though dreading her reaction.

"I'm not sure," was all Hermione said.

xxxxx

Hermione excused herself as soon as the three friends got back to the pod. While she loved her friends, she really wanted to be alone. Her wish was not to come true however, for when she opened the door she was greeted by the sight of Draco lounging on their bed, book in hand. His eyes did not once leave the pages even when she walked in and dropped her bag loudly onto the floor. Hermione, who had moments before wanted nothing more than silence was now wishing desperately for him to say something, anything. When she couldn't take it any longer, she burst out with, "Um, HELLO! I'm back!"

"I'm not blind," Draco bit back.

"Well were you just going to keep sitting there ignoring me?" Hermione replied rather rudely.

"As I recall, a certain someone made it very clear that they didn't want to have anything to do with me at the moment."

"Oh come on, you're twisting my words!" Hermione shouted. "I was in a very bad place and I just needed to be alone—"

"And you don't think I was in a bad place as well?" Draco cut her off. "My wife—my _pregnant _wife collapsed out of nowhere. Don't you think I was a bit stressed out as well?!"

Hermione abruptly burst into tears. She knew that his words held a lot of truth. She had been thinking only of herself. She had let those damn pregnancy hormones get the best of her, making her act like a great self-absorbed tosser. She needed to do better. On many counts.

"How am I ever going to do this Draco? The baby's months from being born and already I'm failing as a mother! I almost killed our child, how can you bear to be in the same room as me, let alone to look at me? I'd have hexed me a thousand times by now!" She was sobbing now, great heaving sobs wracking her entire body.

"So this is why you haven't been able to look me in the eye?" Draco asked quietly.

Hermione merely sobbed more loudly in response.

"Listen to me, Hermione," Draco's voice was surprisingly firm, causing her to look up and meet his gaze in shock. "I'm not even a tad bit angry at you. Worried and sad yes. But not angry. I know that never in a million years would you purposely jeopardize the life of our child, or its well-being, in any way. I understand how difficult this must all be, how terrified you must feel. I'm scared out of my skin and I'm not even the one carrying the kid in my body! This has all moved so quickly, and we never could have been adequately prepared. The one part of all of this that upsets me is that you didn't come to me. What have I done wrong? I've tried my very hardest to make you feel like you can come to me with anything. Why didn't you talk to me about how you were feeling? I would have done anything I could to help you!"

All that Hermione could do was run over and gather him into a hug. Clinging to his shoulders, she wept, "I know I can. I'm so sorry Draco. I behaved like an idiot."

"And no one blames you, okay? This much stress would get the better of anyone. Which is why you need me. I'm not angry, I just want you to understand. We're in this together. In sickness and in health. Until death do us part."

Reaching up and kissing him, Hermione added with a smile, "And maybe even then some."

Smiling down at her, Draco replied, "And maybe even then some." The two just gazed at each other for a moment, staring into each other's eyes. Hermione could feel the stress draining from her like water down a drain. He really was the best thing that ever could have happened to her.

"So," Draco began. "I was thinking of ways that I could help, and I thought, maybe I could come up with a few name suggestions."

"Oh?" Hermione asked, trying her best to sound neutral instead of apprehensive. She could tell that she hadn't fooled Draco who gave her his raised-eyebrow smirk that he had never quite managed to shed.

"Want to hear my favourite?" Draco asked her innocently.

"Of course…" Hermione replied.

"Saint."

"Saint?" Hermione asked, taken aback completely.

"Yes. I figured we could make the first name Saint and the middle name could be Potter…" Draco trailed off mischievously, sniggering at the look on her face.

"You're hilarious Draco Malfoy." Hermione said. Grabbing a pillow, she continued. "Completely. (smack) Totally. (smack) Hilarious. (smack)"

Grabbing her (gently) he tossed her lightly onto the bed and began to tickle her. As she squealed in laughter, the tickling quickly turned to kissing and the squeals to sighs.

"Feel better?" Draco asked from his spot at her neck.

"Much. Thank you so much Draco. I love you."

"I love you more, Hermione Malfoy."

**Sorry, but things couldn't just keep sailing smoothly! Even Hermione Jean Granger (Malfoy) isn't that strong! But I like fights because then they get to make up **** I'm considering skipping a few months ahead….maybe to a birth…not sure yet, I sometimes just let my fingers type and see where they take me…but suggestions are always super helpful and welcome so review review review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Wow. It has been FOREVER. It amazes me that every time I check in on this story, there are more followers than when I left. I will never get over your patience or dedication, or be able to thank you enough for it. Consider this chapter my thanks, as well as this promise: The next wait will NOT be this long. I am officially on summer break! I have more time than I know what to do with. And what better way to spend that time than wrapping this story up? (Yes, this tale is drawing to a close, though I am thinking of putting a few time-hop chapters in at key moments of a certain new characters life… ;) ) All that to say, hope you enjoy this chapter, and I will be back again soon! **

**~xoxox, fan**

"WHY THE HELL DID I MARRY YOU?"

"Shh, shh it's okay Love—"

"SHUT UP I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER WORD! I HATE YOU AND NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR SNEERING FACE AGAIN!"

"Look I know that you're really hurting right now—"

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I AM AND IT'S YOUR FAULT. ALL YOUR BLOODY FAULT. I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU—"

"Just one more push now Mrs. Malfoy. Just one more and it will all be over. And then we can take a look at that hand Mr. Malfoy, it looks like there will definitely be bruising—"

"Great—he—can—join—the-club—then," Hermione panted. "AHHHHHHHHH!" She screeched as she focused all her energy on one last push. She had one final scream of pain which was stopped by the sound of another type of cry piercing the air. The definitive sound of a baby's wail was abruptly heard and Hermione and Draco looked at each other in shock, both momentarily frozen until the realization of what had happened hit them like a ton of bricks.

"WE'RE PARENTS!" They cried together.

"That's right!" The mediwizard grinned. "Would you like to see your son?"

"Son? It's a boy?" Hermione asked with tears streaming down her face.

"It is indeed," the mediwizard replied. "And he's absolutely perfect at that."

Hermione very carefully cradled her newborn son to her chest once the mediwizard handed him to her. She could not stop gazing at his face. In her not-so-humble opinion, he was quite simply the most beautiful thing she had ever set her eyes on. He had a shock of hair, the thin baby strands hard to see not because they were few but because they were white blonde in colour. The colouring was certainly Draco's through and through. The locks were definitely curly however, making the baby's hair a perfect genetic compromise between his parents. When the baby opened his eyes, Hermione was able to see that they were stormy grey in colour. It was interesting that, though he had clearly inherited his father's most striking features, he looked a lot like his mother as well (as much as a baby could anyway) because the rest was Hermione. He had his mother's complexion, not as pale as his father, and a heart shaped face and dainty nose and mouth. He was simply perfect and Hermione could not get enough.

"What are we going to name him?" Draco asked in a reverent voice as he stroked his son's silky cheek.

"Well, I was thinking about your family's tradition of naming your members after constellations. I'm sure that you want to carry on the tradition which I can understand. So I spent some time researching constellation names—"

"Do you seriously mean to tell me that you spent time at the _library_ looking up names for our baby?" Draco couldn't help laughing lovingly at his adorable book worm of a wife.

"Of course," Hermione replied as though it were the most obvious, natural thing in the world. "And while I have to admit that I found the notion of most of them to be quite ridiculous, there was one boy name that stood out to me. It's almost a compromise of sorts because it's quite a common name in muggle society as well."

"The name being?" Draco asked in anticipation.

"Leo." Hermione said softly as she gazed down at their son. In that instant, when Draco saw the way her voice softened around the edges when she said the name, how it was written clear as day across her face how much she thought the name fit, Draco knew that he would not want to call his son by any other name.

"Leo," he said. "A perfect name for a perfect being."

xxxxx

"Leo!" Ginny squealed as she practically skidded into the hospital room the next day. She seemed to be enjoying her renewed agility and ability to see her own toes as she skipped over to the bed where Hermione sat nursing Leo.

"Congratulations!" Harry grinned as he walked through the door holding his and Ginny's own baby James in his arms. "Welcome to the world of parenting. The most amazing, rewarding, exhausting, stinky job you will ever have!"

"Thanks Potter. A bundle of joy and sunshine as always," Draco sneered sarcastically before he clapped Harry jovially, albeit gingerly on the shoulder so as not to wake the sleeping baby in his arms.

"Seriously though, he is simply stunning!" Ginny cooed. "I can't wait to hold him!"

"Put me in line!" an extremely pregnant Parvati called out as she waddled in with Blaise on her heels.

"Oh my goodness, you look like you'll be next any day now!" Hermione commented sympathetically, remembering the discomfort her friend was experiencing.

"How was the labour?" Parvati asked nervously.

"Rough at times, but not too bad overall," Hermione said casually.

"Ha!" Draco laughed incredulously.

"Did your hand need healing too mate?" Harry asked knowingly.

xxxxx

Later that evening, it was just Hermione, Draco, and Leo. Draco carefully slid onto the hospital bed so that the three of them could snuggle up together and he and Hermione could bask in the glow of their newfound parenthood together. He could not get over the feelings that washed over him when he would look at his wife or his child. He finally understood what people meant when they said that your heart expanded so that you could love your child as much or more than your spouse as opposed to replacing some of the love you felt for them. If anything, he loved Hermione even more because when he looked at her, he saw not only the beautiful, ingenious, kind, woman he had married, but also the woman who had blessed him with the incredible gift of his son Leo. Salazar have mercy, becoming a father had practically turned him into a Hufflepuff.

"I can't stop staring at his tiny fingers and toes," Hermione laughed wetly through her tears of happiness. (Something she was never short on these days.) "How can things so tiny be so perfect?"

"I love you," Draco answered.

Hermione elbowed him jokingly in the ribs. "Why can't I ever get a straight answer out of you?" She laughed. "Oh, and in the spirit of our competitive nature, I love you more," she added, stretching up to kiss him.

"Oh Hermione, my love, I thought we had promised to be honest with one-another," Draco replied. "And it is simply not possible for anyone to love anyone else more than I love you. The one exception being, of course," as he looked down at their little miracle, "how much we love this little guy."


	23. Epilogue

**Well, I thought about it and thought about it, and decided that I wanted to end the story while I was ahead. I didn't want to drag it on for so long that it lost its edge. So, after over a year of updates, wonderful reviews, and lots of writing, here is the epilogue of this fic. I'm sad that it's over, but also excited because this means that I can now dedicate myself to a new fic, the subject of which is tbd (I'm open to suggestions…review review!) I think it's time for a fresh start, and I hope that you'll follow along with me. Thank you again for all of your support and patience. Its been a pleasure. **

**Fondly,**

**~Fan**

"Hermione love, we really do need to get up now," Draco whispered softly.

"Mmph!" Was the response from her side of the bed as she rolled over and buried her head in her pillow.

"Come on 'Mione, time to get up! The children are depending on us. Do you think Dianna would forgive us if we caused her to miss the train on her first day!?"

Sighing, Hermione rolled out of bed and stood staring at him morosely. It was then that he was able to see her bloodshot, red-rimmed eyes. Crossing over to her side of the bed, he gathered her into his arms and rubbed her back soothingly.

"Oh love, it's going to be okay. We're still going to see them during holidays and we'll write to them all the time."

"I know Draco, but I just feel like I'm not a mother anymore, at least not in the day to day happenings. The three children are all going to be gone! Maybe we should have another one!" She cried out before launching onto him and kissing him passionately.

Disentangling himself as gently as he could, he chuckled lightly and said, "Love, much as I would enjoy the stuff leading up to the pregnancy, you know that those are just your emotions speaking. We can't have another kid now. I promise that we're going to be okay this year. Think of all the books you can read. Hell, you could even write one in all the spare time you're going to have!"

Sighing, she replied, "As usual, I know you're right. This is just really difficult for me."

"For me as well," he assured her tenderly. "Now, let's go fulfill our day-to-day parental roles!

xxxxx

"Come on, Dianna!" Leo, now in his final year, said as he took hold of her hand. "You've done this loads of times before. You're an old pro!"

Hermione smiled with pride as she watched her eldest and youngest run hand-in-hand through the barrier of platform 9 ¾.

"Your turn Stel!" Draco said to Stella, their middle child who was going into her fourth year.

"Coming dad!" She replied before turning and engulfing Hermione in a vice-like hug. "You'll be right behind me right?"

"Of course my love," Hermione assured her, her heart contracting with love for her most sensitive child. While Draco and Hermione were both close to all of their children, Hermione and Stella had always shared a special bond due to their many similarities.

"We really have to go through now Stella-bella," Draco prodded gently.

Giving Hermione one last reaffirming glance, Stella squared her shoulders and walked resolutely through the platform.

"Just like her mother," Draco chuckled giving Hermione a quick peck on the cheek before loping gracefully through the barrier. Hermione quickly followed suite.

Once on the magical platform, they were quickly swept up in its hectic and exciting nature. The crowds, cacophony of pet noises, shouts of excitement and tears quickly brought Hermione back to her own days, though her reminiscing was quickly cut short as she dashed after her children, trying to keep them all together while also keeping a hand on their luggage.

When she finally caught up she was met with the sight of Leo talking to Lucy, Hannah and Neville's daughter who was also going into her seventh year. The two had been great friends since childhood and Hermione had often wondered if they might end up together. As if he had read her mind (as he often seemed to do,) Draco spoke up as soon as Lucy had drifted off to say her final goodbyes to her parents. "Son, I expect you to marry her."

"Daaaad!" Leo blushed.

"Ya Dad, I mean much as we'd all love for them to wind up together, you shouldn't force him to get with anyone, those kind of relationships are bound to end in disaster!" Stella spoke up in her factual way.

"Wanna bet?" Draco replied slyly, giving Hermione a sideways grin that still managed to turn her legs to jelly and cause a familiar eruption of butterflies in her stomach even after years. Yes, arranged marriages were wrong. Yes, the marriage law had been draconian and completely out of line. And yes, this couple was completely in love and utterly happy. Perfect match indeed.

**Updated AN: Apologies about the name mix-up. I guess that's what happens when you write super late after a hiatus. Thanks to the thoughtful reviews, the mistake has been remedied!**


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